alt-protein
(4)
NotCo
NotCo is a Chilean food-tech company that uses a proprietary artificial intelligence platform called Giuseppe to reverse-engineer animal-based foods and recreate them from plants. Founded in 2015 in Santiago, it makes consumer brands such as NotMilk, NotBurger, NotMayo and NotIceCream, sold across the Americas, and licenses its AI to other food companies. NotCo became Chile's first unicorn in 2021 and runs a plant-based joint venture with Kraft Heinz in North America.
NuCicer
NuCicer is a Davis, California agtech and food-tech company breeding a new generation of high-protein chickpeas. Spun out of UC Davis and built on the largest pool of chickpea genetic diversity on earth, the company uses predictive (precision) breeding and genomics to develop chickpea varieties with up to 75% more protein than conventional beans - alongside better flavor, lower fat, and higher fiber. NuCicer sells whole beans, functional flours, protein powders, and bespoke trait packages to food brands seeking minimally processed, sustainable plant-protein ingredients that out-compete soy and pea isolates on taste and texture.
Kathryn Cook
Kathryn Cook is the CEO and co-founder of NuCicer, a Davis, California agtech and food-tech company breeding chickpeas with up to 75% more protein than ordinary varieties. A former Boeing materials engineer and Facebook technical program manager, she left big tech to commercialize 35 years of her father's chickpea genetics research at UC Davis, applying machine learning and data analytics to plant breeding. NuCicer has raised roughly $23 million in total funding, planted across multiple US states, and aims to cut the cost of plant protein in half.
The EVERY Company
The EVERY Company is a San Francisco Bay Area biotech that uses precision fermentation to brew real egg proteins (ovalbumin, pepsin, and more) without chickens. Its ingredients - OvoPro, EVERY Egg White, and EVERY Protein - power baked goods, beverages, and protein bars sold by food brands ranging from startups to multinationals.