MycoTechnology, Inc.

🧃🍬 9 SWEET PROTEIN AND SUGAR REDUCTION STARTUPS CHANGING THE WAY WE EAT While sugar may not technically be an addictive food, it’s as close to this distinction as any foodstuff gets. The ingredient is omnipresent around the world – separate studies in Canada and Australia have shown that two-thirds of packaged foods contain added sugar. Too much of anything is a bad thing, but overconsumption of added sugar (not the natural sugars found in whole foods) is especially detrimental to health, increasing the risk of conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease. But shaking up this sector is tough – the global sugar market was valued at $66B in 2023, while the same research firm placed the sugar substitute sector at $7B. It’s a nascent industry with many question marks, but one with tons of innovation. Startups looking to change the conversation on sugar are coming up with different ways to make sweet foods. Some are creating ‘sweet proteins’, a new class of sweeteners derived from natural proteins and made via fermentation, others are converting sugar into dietary fibre for enhanced health effects, and yet others are using technology to reduce the sugar content of beverages without impacting the sweetness. As consumers look to cut out sugar on the back of the rise of GLP-1 agonist drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, here are nine startups disrupting the sugar industry: 👉🏻 Oobli | Jason Ryder, Alan Perlstein 👉🏻 Zya | Josh Sauer, PhD, Niels Wicke, PhD 👉🏻 Amai Proteins | ilan Samish 👉🏻 Blue Tree Technologies Ltd. | Didier Toubia, Yuval Klein 👉🏻 Better Juice | Gali Yarom, Eran Blachinsky 👉🏻 INCREDIBLE® (formerly JuiceInnov8) | Sean (Chonchayong) Trairatkeyoon 👉🏻 Naturannova | Antonella De Lazzari, Juan Carlos Duarte Ramírez, Fabián González Norambuena 👉🏻 MycoTechnology, Inc. | Alan Hahn, Jim Langan, Brooks Kelly, Pete Lubar 👉🏻 Sweegen | Steven Chen More about these innovative companies in the full article: https://lnkd.in/eQKq_fJ2 #GreenQueen #health #nutrition #fermentation #altprotein #futurefood #innovation #foodtech

We are excited to welcome 14 new ventures to the Unreasonable Food program! These innovators are leading the charge in transforming our food system for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future. Meet the Fellows: ▪ Mike Zelkind (80 Acres Farms) ▪ Agam K. (Absolute®) ▪ Lisa Dyson, PhD (Air Protein) ▪ Alloysius Attah (Farmerline Group) ▪ Dan Rooney, PhD (LandScan) ▪ Sea F. Briganti (LOLIWARE Inc.) ▪ Alan Hahn (MycoTechnology, Inc.) ▪ Nicolas Pinkowski (Nitricity) ▪ Anastasia Volkova, PhD (Regrow Ag) ▪ Sam Elsom (Sea Forest) ▪ Vinod Kumar (String Bio Private Limited) ▪ Adam Maxwell (Voyage Foods) ▪ Alexandra French (Xampla) ▪ Chris Tolles (Yard Stick PBC) These ventures represent a diverse range of solutions and technologies, all with the common goal of building a better food future for everyone. Unreasonable Food, a collaboration between Unreasonable and Mars, is committed to empowering these entrepreneurs with the resources, mentorship, and network they need to scale their impact. Together, we're fostering a thriving ecosystem of food system innovators. Discover more about these inspiring entrepreneurs and their innovative work on the Unreasonable Food website: https://lnkd.in/gTm7bJUd

This week, the SupplySide Network Content Team members toured MycoTechnology, Inc.'s facility in Aurora, CO, where they make health-promoting mushroom ingredients #trendingingredient. Our visit was perfect timing to learn about MycoTechnology's new high-intensity sweetener made from mycelial protein. Yes, that's right! Sweetness from protein! Made with precision fermentation, the honey truffle sweetener is ready to find its home in finished products. (Learn more about that here: https://lnkd.in/gBYiVS-g) It's always interesting to see under the hood of product development. And Mycotechnology names all its meeting spaces after mushrooms -- we had a Q&A in the Shiitake Boardroom! Great fun! Thanks to our tour guides Rick Becker, Matthew Malone and Lisa Wetstone. Cassandra SmithJen KiefferAudarshia TownsendKaren RatermanFrancine SchoenwetterScott MillerHank SchultzAmanda WhiteSusan Ginn

KEY Energy Drink From Ketones—a startup led by former PepsiCo and Coca-Cola execs on a mission to disrupt the US functional beverage segment with a zero-sugar ketone-fueled energy drink—has emerged from stealth armed with $4m in seed funding. The round, led by AgFunder and backed by Alethia Venture Partners and AgFunder SIJ Impact Fund, will support retail distribution, inventory and marketing efforts at the firm, which is launching direct-to-consumer and on Amazon, and making its retail debut at Erewhon in southern California and select retailers in New York. Developed by Karishma Thawani (who worked in procurement at Coca-Cola) and Tekla Back (who spent seven years at PepsiCo in corporate strategy), KEY is a zero-sugar energy drink sweetened with stevia, featuring 80mg caffeine from green tea, coupled with l-theanine, an amino acid also found in green tea that is often paired with caffeine for improved focus. However, the star ingredient is Avela™ (R)-1,3-Butanediol (listed as ‘pre-ketones’ on pack), an organic compound that can be converted to D-BHB, one of three ketones produced by the liver to provide energy when the body is fasting or in ketosis (burning fat for energy rather than glucose). KEY sources this branded ingredient from bioengineering firm Genomatica, which says the ‘R’ form of 1,3-butanediol—which it produces via microbial fermentation—is effective at raising BHB levels and generating ‘on-demand ketosis’ within 30 minutes of ingestion. #foodtech #ketones #functionalbeverages #energydrinks