12 Start-Ups Applying New Innovative Approaches to Transform the Future of Food

Future Food-Tech presents revolutionary solutions set to shake-up the food industry

The food industry is quickly adapting to today’s consumer demands, developing new technologies and bringing products to market faster than ever before. New start-ups are emerging on the food-tech scene with bold new concepts and fresh approaches to transform the future of food.

It’s more important than ever for the Future Food-Tech summit to showcase fresh talent ripe for investment and partnerships, as the industry gathers once again on December 2-3, 2020.

“There has never been a greater need for new technologies to accelerate the future of food. We are excited to unveil the standout solutions that are spearheading the next generation of food-tech innovation at the summit this December,” says Jet Luckhurst, Technology Scout at Future Food-Tech.

With a proven track-record for scouting the most exciting and freshest technologies, the summit unveils twelve innovators offering unique approaches to meet the industry’s hottest challenges.

PRIORITIZING HEALTH AND NUTRITION

CHALLENGE: Accelerate cell-based products to market

Orbillion Bio is building an advanced bioplatform for functional testing of cell lines for cultivated meat – a solution that is ready for rapid scalability and wide-spread adoption. “Our mission is to bring healthy, ethical, and flavorful cultivated meat with a story to the modern consumer,” explains Patricia Bubner, CEO and Co-Founder at Orbillion Bio.

CHALLENGE: More natural, functional ingredients for clean label products

“Consumers want real foods made with real food ingredients, not synthetic additives,” states Chris Gregson, Founder at Pargon Pure. By working with nature to enhance the nutrition, sustainability and authenticity of packaged foods, Paragon Pure creates high-performance specialty flours by guiding traditional grain sprouting processes towards precise functional properties. Its flours can be used to replace additives and deliver natural flavors, colors and nutrients into wholesome foods.

CHALLENGE: Natural healthy ingredients from upcycled agri-food waste

Tait Labs produces sustainable food and pharma ingredients upcycled from natural sources by unlocking the health potential trapped in the 4 million tons of mandarin orange peel produced annually. “We are ready to share our vision of how it tackles the two massive problems of food waste and chronic disease,” says Andrew Tait, CEO of Tait Labs.

NEXTGEN PLANT-BASED

CHALLENGE: Recreate the texture and mouthfeel of whole-cut plant-based meats

Bevo is a food-technology company that has developed a process and designed a proprietary machine that can transform any plant-based protein powder into a muscle-like fibrous structure that can then be shaped into delicious steaks. “We can currently produce beef, pork and chicken-like steaks with a lab-scale capacity,” notes Tilen Travnik, CEO at Bevo.

CHALLENGE: Transform plant-based dairy innovation

''At Those Vegan Cowboys, we create the ultimate follow-up to traditional dairy by expressing casein genes in yeast and fungi. Caseins are then produced large scale by grass-fed fermentation," details Jaap Korteweg, CEO at Those Vegan Cowboys and founding father of The Vegetarian Butcher. This pioneering CEO is taking the next step in dairy production, from hand milking, via the milking machine to the fully automatic milking robot of today.

CHALLENGE: Make plant-based foods tastier, healthier and more sustainable

The Live Green Co is disrupting the way the world consumes by recommending 100% natural plant alternatives for the animal as well as synthetic and highly-processed additives in our daily foods. “The Live Green Co is participating in the TechHub at Future Food-Tech to scout for like-minded production and distribution partners globally, along with networking with industry peers,” shares Pri Srinivas, Founder and CEO at The Live Green Co.

THE FUTURE IS DATA AND AI

CHALLENGE: Use AI to develop next-generation protein-based ingredients

Protera has created a process called Natural Intelligence™, which takes advantage of proprietary AI algorithms to craft functional proteins. "We are leveraging our deep learning technology to shine a light on a previously untapped universe of functional proteins. Our team is developing next-generation clean-label texturizing and food-preserving proteins," explains Leonardo Alvarez, Founder and CEO at Protera.

CHALLENGE: Use AI and data-powered genomics to match ingredients to products

“The basis of food is an ingredient, and the basis of human life is a gene. By leading the way in understanding and mapping the relationship between ingredients and human genes, we are making food as medicine a reality,” says Leena Pradhan-Nabzdyk, CEO at Canomiks. The company is the first technology company using genomics, bioinformatics, and an AI-based technology platform to test and certify biological efficacy and safety of ingredients and formulations.

NOVEL TECHNOLOGY, INGREDIENTS AND APPROACHES

CHALLENGE: Accelerate development of novel ingredients

 “Zymtronix packs and deploys enzymes as green catalysts, making ingredients more efficiently and precisely than chemistry or fermentation,” says Stephane Corgie, CEO at Zymtronix. The breakthrough enzyme immobilization platform improves the activity, stability and reusability of any enzyme to tackle the complex production of novel ingredients while developing efficient processes and lowering costs.

CHALLENGE: Accelerate tailoring of aromas, color and taste for spirits

“Bespoken Spirits precisely tailors spirits for aroma, color and taste in just days by replacing the antiquated and wasteful barrel aging process with sustainable science and technology,” explains Stu Aaron, Co-Founder at Bespoken Spirits. Its proprietary ACTivation technology makes it possible to extract the key elements of the barrel that enhance aroma, color and taste (ACT) but with precision, control and speed.

CHALLENGE: Next generation alternatives to plastic packaging 

 “Using a novel approach and solid polymer science, StenCo is utilizing inexpensive, nature-based materials to address some of today's most pressing environmental issues,” notes John Brown, CEO at StenCo. The company has developed an oxygen barrier better than most plastics to keep food fresh.

CHALLENGE: Low cost material identification and ingredients analysis

“Senorics develops small, powerful and low-cost material sensing sensors to provide insights into the composition of food and beverages. Now, we are looking to connect with industry leaders to identify high impact and beneficial applications to the benefit of organizations and consumers alike,” explains Robert Langer, CCO at Senorics. The company designs and builds miniaturized material sensing sensor solutions.

All the start-up presenters on the program at Future Food-Tech this December 2-3 will be quizzed by the summit’s shark panel of investors to drill down into the potential of each solution.

Shark panelist Tomer Diari, Vice President at Bessemer Venture Partners summarizes: “Emerging companies are leveraging innovative technology alongside the Silicon Valley playbook to disrupt the food industry. We’re excited to see them completely transforming the industry throughout the next decade.”

The virtual Future Food-Tech Summit will bring together food brands, retailers, ingredient manufacturers, technology providers and investors for two days of online networking and knowledge-exchange.

Rethink Events:

Bringing together the best minds in the industry, Rethink Events' international series of conferences identify and assess new technology investment opportunities in agriculture, food, water and waste. We address the issues most crucial to investors and developers. After extensive research, we create hard-hitting agendas, rich in content, and featuring the industry’s most influential figures. Through intensive debate and valuable networking, key contacts are made and deals are struck, while new business ideas take root and flourish. www.rethinkevents.com

Future Food-Tech:

Future Food-Tech takes place three times a year in San Francisco, New York and London, plus also in Singapore as part of the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Week. At present the summits are being held virtually to keep the industry connected as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. The summits generate valuable opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange and deal-making among its international delegation of food businesses, retailers, technology providers, entrepreneurs and investors. https://futurefoodtechnyc.com/