• Plantible Foods

  Participated · Series B · Nov 2024

  Plantible Foods produces functional ingredients derived from Lemna, also known as water lentils, and its flagship product Rubi Protein is a complete plant protein containing all nine essential amino acids and vitamin B12. The company operates a commercial production facility in Eldorado, Texas (Ranchito facility) and plans to expand that site by adding up to 50 commercial greenhouses. The planned expansion is expected to raise annual production capacity to more than 1,000 metric tons. Plantible says the increase in capacity will help meet rising customer demand and support additional jobs, contractors and suppliers in Schleicher County. Since establishing its commercial facility, the company has invested in local operations, engineering and research roles. The company’s recent financing includes a $25 million USDA OneRD Business & Industry Guaranteed Loan closed with X-Caliber Rural Capital.

• Shiru

  Participated · Series B · Nov 2024

  Shiru operates ProteinDiscovery.ai, an AI-driven ingredient discovery platform that hosts a database of 33 million natural molecules from plants and microbes and connects corporate partners to novel, high-performance ingredients. The platform is designed to shorten R&D timelines, reduce development costs, and accelerate time to market for flavor, skincare, agricultural, and advanced-materials applications. Shiru has commercial partnerships with companies such as Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition and Griffith Foods and has launched patented products including OleoPro™ and its active protein, uPro™. The company says it powers discovery across multiple molecular classes and plans to expand its ingredient portfolio and commercial offerings beyond proteins. Shiru is based in Berkeley, California, and is led by Founder and CEO Dr. Jasmin Hume. As of the announced round, the company has raised a total of $36 million. Shiru, founded in 2019 by Dr. Jasmin Hume, develops plant-based ingredients using precision fermentation to replicate the taste, texture and functionality of animal-derived proteins. The company offers a catalog of six colorless, flavorless ingredients that can be added to baked goods, sauces, burgers and yogurt. Its targets include replacing common animal proteins and functional additives such as methyl cellulose. Shiru says its ingredients achieve similar cost and versatility at scale to animal analogs and aims to have ingredients ready for customers by early next year. The company forecasts first commercial products containing its ingredients could appear on grocery shelves as early as 2023. Shiru is Emeryville-based, currently employs 22 people and plans to double headcount while moving into new Alameda headquarters and scaling manufacturing. Shiru is a computational biology company that produces novel, functional proteins for food applications leveraging molecular design. Led by Jasmin Hume and based in San Francisco, the company uses computational approaches to create ingredients aimed at reducing reliance on animal-based foods. Their core products are designed proteins intended to be sustainable and nutritious alternatives to animal-derived ingredients. Shiru raised $3.5m in seed funding to support its growth. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations. Investors in the round include Lux Capital, Y Combinator, S2G, CPT Capital and others.

• MycoTechnology

  Participated · Series E · Mar 2022

  MycoTechnology harnesses the metabolic engine of mushrooms—mycelium—using natural fermentation to produce novel food ingredients. Its product portfolio includes ClearIQ, a kosher and halal all‑natural bitter blocker, and FermentIQ, a plant‑based meat analog ingredient made by fermenting pea and rice protein with shiitake mycelium. The company positions its ingredients as solutions for sugar reduction, food insecurity, sustainable protein and natural immune support, and aims to improve taste and functionality in plant‑based products. Founded in 2013 and based in Aurora, Colorado, MycoTechnology says its platform can add new-to-the-world ingredients from the fungal kingdom. The startup plans to use recent funding to further capitalize its fermentation technology platform and expand its geographical footprint, prioritizing launches in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. MycoTechnology emphasizes improving the palatability of alt‑protein to help drive broader consumer adoption. MycoTechnology develops a mushroom fermentation platform to create food-processing solutions and functional ingredients made from mycelium. The company is Colorado-based and was selected from more than 150 global applicants to win the Radicle Protein Challenge, receiving a US$1 million investment prize. It previously closed a US$39 million Series D backed by Greenleaf Foods, Tyson Ventures and Eighteen94 Capital. Management has stated plans to expand its line of ingredients and food-processing solutions made using mycelium. The company also alluded to an opportunity for an IPO in late 2022. As part of the prize, MycoTechnology will gain access to the agricultural network and expertise of Radicle and Syngenta to accelerate its technology. MycoTechnology develops mushroom-based functional ingredients, including ClearTaste (a bitterness masker) and PureTaste, a fermented pea-and-rice protein that is 77% protein. The company raised $39M in a Series D to help build and scale its functional ingredients platform. PureTaste is produced by fermenting pea and rice protein with shiitake mycelia and is positioned for use in meat alternatives, snack bars, dairy alternatives, and baked goods. ClearTaste is commonly used to mask the aftertaste of stevia, enabling sugar reduction, and is also used in CBD products, coffee, chocolate, and low-sodium formulations made with potassium chloride. MycoTechnology's CEO, Alan Hahn, has said the company has projects that may create opportunities to go public, with a previously announced IPO plan for late 2022. The article also situates the company within a growing mycoprotein market, noting industry expansion and other recent fundraising by fungi-based ingredient startups. MycoTechnology is a Denver, CO–based developer of a novel organic food processing platform that transforms agricultural material into functional ingredients. Its offering includes ClearTaste, which enables companies to reduce sugar by blocking bitterness, and PureTaste®, a sustainable, functional, plant-based protein. The company is led by CEO Alan Hahn, CSO Anthony Clark, COO Rick Becker, and CFO Jonathan Jachimiec. MycoTechnology closed a $30M Series C to accelerate expansion, speed R&D project execution, and grow the team to support current and future projects. The firm targets major challenges in the food and beverage industry by commercializing ingredient solutions derived from its platform. MycoTechnology develops functional food ingredients using mushroom fermentation, commercializing products for the food and beverage industry. Its first product, ClearTaste®, is a certified organic bitter blocker that helps companies reduce sugar in their products. The company is commercializing a Shiitake-fermented vegetable protein called PureTaste, which the article describes as highly digestible, non-GMO, vegan, low in calories/fats/carbohydrates and rich in vitamins and minerals not found in competing proteins. After ClearTaste commercialization, MycoTechnology is focusing on addressing challenges in the protein industry with PureTaste. The company intends to use new funds to continue to grow operations, and its commercial facility will initially be able to produce 4,000 metric tons of PureTaste per year. MycoTechnology was founded in 2013 by Alan Hahn, who serves as CEO.

No current team members are available.