The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Apr 2021

Evo Foods is a plant-based egg company founded by Kartik Dixit and Shraddha Bhansali in October 2019 and announced from Mumbai. The company produces a plant-based liquid egg formulated with patent-pending technology and Indian ingredients like moong beans and peas. Evo Foods raised Rs 6.2 crore in a pre-seed round. The round onboarded a mix of strategic and institutional investors. Shaun Neff has invested and joined Evo Foods’ advisory board. Other backers include Sustainable Food Ventures, Michiel Van Deursen (Capital V), Vaibhav Domkundwar (Better Capital), Anil Advani (Inventus Law), Sweden-based Kale United, LA-based Seven Hound Ventures, Hearthstone Investments and members of the GlassWall Syndicate. EVO Foods is a Mumbai-based startup that produces a vegan liquid egg replacer made from proteins extracted from legumes and other plant sources. The company uses advanced plant biochemistry and food science to create a cholesterol-free, antibiotic-free egg replica designed to match traditional egg uses without animal cruelty. Founded in early 2019 by Kartik Dixit and Shraddha Bhansali, EVO planned a product launch in July 2020 and will join Big Idea Ventures' New York accelerator cohort. Its stated mission is to bring the plant-based revolution to India, where cultural and dietary attitudes make egg an ambiguous category between vegetarian and non-vegetarian. EVO has received backing from alt-protein VC Big Idea Ventures and an angel investment from Ryan Bethencourt, and Bethencourt will join Stephanie Downs as advisors. The startup emphasizes safety benefits such as no salmonella risk and positions its product as a clean protein alternative for India's traditional egg market.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2021

Jellatech, founded in 2020 by Stephanie Michelsen, develops cultivated collagen and gelatin via cellular agriculture with applications across food, personal care, biomedicine and materials. The company has demonstrated the ability to create both bovine and human collagen and is building a broader protein portfolio focused on proteins uniquely found in animals and humans. Jellatech plans to commercialize and scale production, prioritizing smaller, cost-effective use cases to begin generating revenue while pursuing larger market opportunities. The team views beauty and biomedical customers as attractive early markets with different regulatory pathways and diverse distribution channels. Management is focused on improving cost, efficiency and speed of production as it expands species and protein offerings. The startup raised capital to support these commercialization and scale efforts and remains agile across industries and applications. Jellatech, founded in 2020 by Stephanie Michelsen, positions itself as the world’s first cell-based collagen and gelatin ingredient company. The firm leverages a proprietary cellular agriculture process to manufacture sustainable, high-quality animal-free substitutes for collagen and gelatin. Its core product targets food applications and the company is also exploring uses in cosmetics, personal care and medication. Jellatech closed a $2 million pre-seed fundraise in April and counts Ryan Bethencourt’s Sustainable Food Ventures as a prominent investor. The company recently completed a strategic investment from CULT Food Science Corp. and plans to scale, pursue commercialization globally, and explore scientific synergies with CULT’s teams. Jellatech develops real collagen and gelatin via cellular agriculture rather than isolating them from meat-industry byproducts. Its products are biologically identical to native collagen, addressing functionality limitations of current animal-free and plant-based alternatives. The company targets applications across skincare and cosmetics, medical and pharmaceutical uses, and food & beverage. Jellatech reports several inquiries from potential customers and partners and will ship early samples by the end of the month. The startup says the new funding will accelerate product development and distribution of initial collagen samples. Stephanie Michelsen is co-founder and CEO.