Led · Equity · Nov 2023

Needed offers a system of science-backed perinatal nutritional supplements and educational content targeting egg and sperm quality, lactation, stress, sleep, and hydration. Since launching in 2021, the company has rapidly expanded its product offering to become what it calls the most complete perinatal nutrition system on the market. More than 4,000 women’s health experts recommend Needed, and its products and content are built around the latest research and clinical insights. The recent funding will accelerate product innovation, content creation, and the launch of Needed Labs, the company’s clinical insights and research arm, which plans to run a unique study on women’s nutritional status during pregnancy. Needed Labs aims to aggregate clinical insights and develop data to influence standard of care and power product development. Founded in 2017 and based in Los Angeles, Needed is a Certified B‑Corp, a 1% for the Planet member, and Climate Neutral‑Certified. Needed is a perinatal nutrition and education company offering nutrition advice, clinically backed products, and a community of women’s health practitioners and researchers. The company designs supplements validated through clinical research and third-party testing to help women identify and meet perinatal nutrition needs. Needed plans to launch new products targeting stress, sleep, and fertility, and to fund clinical research demonstrating that women’s nutritional needs are undermet during pregnancy. The company also aims to support overall growth and scale its community and product offerings. Needed was co-founded by Julie Sawaya and Ryan Woodbury at the end of 2020 and is based in Los Angeles, CA. The company recently completed a Seed financing round, providing initial capital to execute its plans. Needed PBC develops nature-first, clinically-validated nutritional supplements designed for superior absorption. Its flagship product is a liposomal Omega-3 (DHA and EPA) that leverages liposomes for nutrient protection and absorption and is mild-tasting for daily use. The company pairs supplements with fundamentals-focused nutritional education and a community of learners to help customers identify and meet nutritional gaps. Future product plans target lifecycle needs including fertility, postpartum, and early childhood development. Products are sold direct-to-consumer and through referrals from a community of health and wellness practitioners. Needed is led by co-CEOs and co-founders Julie Sawaya and Ryan Woodbury and is organized as a public-benefit corporation in Los Angeles.

Led · Equity · Jan 2023

Edgard & Cooper is a Kortrijk, Belgium–based producer of high-quality dog and cat food that combines nutritious fresh ingredients with environmentally friendly packaging. Founded in 2016 by Koen Bostoen, Louis Chalabi and Jürgen Degrande, the company has launched a 100% plant-based dog food range (autumn 2021) and a 'junk-free' premium cat food range (autumn 2022). It has developed a 'Zero Paw Print 2025' plan, which includes making the company CO2 neutral by 2025. The business competes in the pan-European pet food category and focuses on product innovation and sustainable packaging. The company intends to use new capital to accelerate product innovation and continue growing across Europe. Edgard & Cooper is a Belgian pet-food company that produces dog and cat food using meat incorporated within 48 hours and without chemical preservatives. Its packaging is made of biodegradable material. Products are available in Belgium and in 13 additional European geographies. The company was co-founded by Koen Bostoen, Louis Chalabi and Jürgen Degrande. FinSMEs reported that Edgard & Cooper raised $22m from The Craftory to support growth. The investment is intended to give the company the opportunity to grow further.

Participated · Series D · Dec 2022

NotCo uses a proprietary artificial‑intelligence platform called Giuseppe to recreate the taste, texture, functionality and smell of animal‑based foods using only plant ingredients; the technology is covered by 12 U.S. patents. The company sells branded products such as NotMilk™, NotBurger™ and NotChicken™ through retail and foodservice channels and reports placement in over 10,000 stores including Costco, Whole Foods, Amazon and others. NotCo has pursued B2B expansion, launching a new B2B unit and platform to license Giuseppe to other CPG brands, ingredient suppliers and technology partners. It has already demonstrated licensing via a joint venture with Kraft Heinz, The Kraft Heinz Not Company, to reimagine Kraft products. The company touts dramatically faster R&D timelines using its AI — cutting development from years to months — as a core advantage for scaling plant‑based innovation. Financially, NotCo recently completed a $70M Series D1 that reaffirmed a $1.5B valuation at the same share price as its July 2021 Series D. NotCo builds plant-based consumer products — including NotMilk, NotBurger/NotMeat, NoticeCream and NotMayo — sold in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia and carried in retailers like Whole Foods, Sprouts and Wegmans. Its proprietary AI, Giuseppe, analyzes thousands of plant ingredients to recreate animal-protein attributes and accelerate product development. The company has raised more than $350 million to date and completed a $235 million Series D at a $1.5 billion valuation. Sales have grown roughly threefold annually over the past four years, and the company currently employs about 100 people with plans to double headcount in two years. NotCo plans to expand into Mexico and Canada, increase U.S. and Chile market share, and pursue Asia and Europe expansion within the next year while adding new products such as chicken/white meats and seafood and investing in R&D and additional patents. NotCo uses a patented artificial intelligence platform called Giuseppe to identify plant ingredients that replicate the taste, texture, and functionality of animal-based foods. The company has launched products across multiple categories — NotMilk™, NotBurger™, NotIceCream™ and NotMayo™ — and competes in five countries within four product categories. NotCo recently rolled out NotMilk nationwide at Whole Foods in the U.S. and confirmed distribution in more than 3,000 stores in the first half of 2021. The company operates in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia and says it is the largest and fastest-growing food tech company in Latin America. Management plans to use new capital to accelerate U.S. expansion, deepen entry into NYC foodservice, and fund new category innovation in Latin America. NotCo has raised more than $130 million to date and said the latest investment was made at a higher valuation than its prior round, with a goal of reaching a $1 billion valuation by the end of 2021. NotCo is built on proprietary artificial intelligence that matches animal protein to ideal plant-based ingredients to recreate the taste and behavior of dairy, eggs and meat. The company has launched NotMilk, NotBurger, NotIceCream and NotMayo across Brazil, Argentina and Chile and says it has become the largest and fastest-growing food-tech company in Latin America in less than three years. NotCo has commercial partnerships with Burger King and Papa John’s in Chile and will evaluate additional food-service and retail partners as it expands. The company plans to scale operations internationally with an entry into the United States and will base co-founders Matias Muchnick (CEO) and Karim Pichara (CTO) in the U.S. to accelerate expansion. NotCo has added senior hires for global marketing, business development, R&D and operations to build its leadership team. The firm cites accelerating market demand for plant-based products—U.S. grocery sales of direct animal-replacement plant-based foods grew 29% to $5 billion over two years—as supporting its expansion plans. NotCo is a Chilean food-technology company that develops plant-based replacements for mayonnaise, milk, ice cream, meat and other animal-based products. The company combines machine AI and human taste expertise to design recipes, leveraging Giuseppe, a machine AI platform that analyzes molecular structures to create unique plant-based combinations. NotCo was founded in 2015 by Matias Muchnick, Pablo Zamora and Karim Pichara. The business focuses on alternative, plant-based consumer packaged foods across multiple categories. The $30M raised will be used for technological advancement, new product development and expansion into new markets, including Mexico and the US later in the year. Existing investor relationships include Kaszek Ventures and IndieBio.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2022

Moss.earth is a global digital asset platform focused on tokenizing carbon credits and building Web3 products for environmental markets. Its core offerings include the MCO2 token (a tokenized carbon credit listed on Coinbase, Gemini and Mercado Bitcoin and available on the Celo network as a Celo reserve), issuance and distribution of Amazon land NFTs, and decentralized digital certification of environmental work. The company reports it has intermediated over US$26 million in carbon-credit purchases in the past 18 months and counts Brazilian corporates (Gol, Hering, Arezzo, iFood) and North American institutions (One River Asset Management, Skybridge) among clients. Moss plans to expand its Web 3.0 applications to make environmental accounting and asset generation cheaper, faster, and more convenient via its blockchain team. Founded in March 2020, Moss positions itself as a leader in digitizing the carbon value chain and reducing friction between asset generation and consumer demand. The company recently closed a US$10 million Series A to accelerate that expansion. Launched in March 2020, Moss selects conservation programs in the Amazon that issue carbon credits, buys large volumes of those credits, and redistributes them at retail. The company adds technology (including blockchain) to certify and trade credits and says it has built a global distribution network. Moss serves both individuals and corporate customers (the article cites C6 Bank as a client) and is developing a B2B2C product called Átomos to sell credits via loyalty and rewards programs. The firm claims to have sent R$55 million to Amazon conservation projects, a figure it compares with the federal government’s R$50 million budget for Amazon conservation. Financially, Moss announced a US$1.8 million investment round at the end of last year and had previously raised US$1.6 million in June 2020. The company plans to use the new funding to push internationalization, marketing, and promotion of a carbon token that it intends to list on crypto exchanges.

Participated · Series B · Oct 2021

Allplants prepares and delivers frozen, plant-based heat-at-home meals sold as build-your-box subscriptions and curated bundles. Customers pick six meals per box with portion sizes for one or two people; the range covers breakfasts, mains, snacks and treats across world cuisines. The company operates a kitchen in Walthamstow, North London and employs about 140 chefs working around the clock to prepare meals. Revenues have been more than doubling every year since the business launched in 2017. Planned product work includes expanding the meals range and developing broader product categories to meet more tastes and preferences. Allplants says it is building scalable capacity for rapid distribution into other channels, potentially including retail, and has sights on going global. The business emphasizes taste, quality and sustainability as drivers of consumer adoption among the “plant-curious” market. allplants operates an online chef-to-customer service that delivers chef-made, plant-based meals to consumers. The company runs a newly opened 20,000 square foot dedicated plant-based production kitchen in London and has celebrated serving one million vegan meals from that kitchen. allplants is a registered B-Corp and its dishes have won several Great Taste Gold Star Awards. The business plans to develop new food categories and scale operations to serve over 60,000 meals a week from its production facility. By 2025 it aims to develop distribution partnerships and expand into new markets in Europe and North America. allplants was founded in 2017 by brothers Jonathan (JP) and Alex Petrides. Allplants delivers ready-made, chef-made vegan meals that are quick-frozen and shipped either as one-off orders or via subscription. Meals are sent in six-meal batches, each serving one or two people, intended to be stored in customers' freezers and reheated as needed. The company was founded in 2017 by brothers Jonathan and Alex Petrides and is based in North London. Allplants says it has served over 250,000 meals and has built a community of more than 70,000 online fans; the company is certified as a B Corp. The startup employs a 40-plus team and plans to use investment to expand its production kitchen (operating on renewable and waste-created energy), broaden its ready-to-eat range, and accelerate community growth. Allplants positions its service as an easy, convenient way for non-vegans and the veg-curious to eat more plant-based meals to reduce environmental impact and improve health.