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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

NotCo

Chile’s NotCo Raises $85M to Bring Its Plant-based Proteins to the U.S.

NotCo, a Chilean food tech company known for its alternative protein products, announced today it has closed an $85 million Series C round. The round was led by Future Positive, L Catterton Partners, and General Catalyst. Existing investors include Kaszek Ventures, The Craftory, Bezos Expedition, Endeavor Catalyst, Indie Bio, Humbolt Capital and Maya Capital.

The new funds come as NotCo plans to scale its operations and expand internationally, starting with a move into the U.S. The company said in today’s press release that it is evaluating both retail and restaurant partnerships in the States.

Rather than focus on a single food category, NotCo is developing meat, dairy, and egg alternatives at the same time. The company currently has its NotMilk, NotBurger, NotIceCream, and NotMay in stores around Chile, Brazil, Argentina. It also has deals with Burger King and Papa John’s in Chile. 

To make its plant-based protein products, NotCo uses artificial intelligence to match animal proteins with their ideal plant replacement, pulling from a library of thousands of plant profiles the company has stored up. The idea is to make combinations of plants that will most closely mimc not just the taste of meat or dairy but also the texture, smell, and mouthfeel, among other factors.

This approach has made NotCo one of the biggest players in plant-based protein in Latin America. However, an expansion to the U.S. means NotCo will have to compete with some serious competition in an already crowded alternative protein space that includes some of the industry’s biggest names: Beyond and Impossible in the plant-based meat sector, Eat JUST for eggs, and Perfect Day for dairy. 

International expansion, whether to the U.S. or from it, is a major development in the alternative protein space of late. Beyond, Impossible, and Eat JUST have all announced plans to move into other markets, including Canada and China. Those expansions make sense, given the amount of cash flowing into the sector. The entire alternative protein category has seen an enormous amount of investment in 2020: over $1.1 billion so far, with more than $907 million of that going to plant-based protein.

For its own expansion, NotCo co-founders, Matias Muchnick (CEO) and Karim Pichara (CTO), will be based in the U.S. The company said in a recent interview that it wants to be a $300 million company by 2024, with 70 percent of that business in the U.S.

Plant-Based Food Co. NotCo Gets $30M from Investors Including Jeff Bezos

NotCo, a Chile-based startup that uses AI to create plant-based versions of dairy products, has raised $30 million led by The Craftory investment fund, with participation from Jeff Bezo’s Bezos Expeditions (h/t FoodBev Media).

At the heart of NotCo is Giuseppe, the company’s artificial intelligence platform that analyzes food on a molecular level to re-create the flavors and textures of traditional foods. The company’s Not Mayo is made with potatoes, peas, basil, and canola oil rather than vegetable oil and eggs.

NotCo’s mayo is currently available in more than 1,000 stores in Chile. The new money will be used to fund new products like plant-based milk and ice cream, as well as expand into new markets such as Mexico and the U.S. later this year.

Investors have shown a pretty big appetite for plant-based products like NotCo’s, and it’s not hard to see why. Increased awareness around the ethical and environmental issues associated with meat and dairy consumption have more people re-thinking their diets and sales of plant-based products are soaring. But perhaps more importantly, plant-based alternatives have gotten really good.

via GIPHY

This combination of factors have led to companies like Impossible Foods raising $387.5 million, Beyond Meat raising $122 million (and going public), and more recently, Motif raised $90 million to help even more startups use plant-based ingredients.

But it’s not just startups, BIG FOOD (as my colleague, Catherine Lamb likes to call it), is plant-based muscling in on the act as well. Nestle has introduced its own version of the Impossible burger (dubbed the Incredible burger), Unilever bought the Vegetarian Butcher, and chicken king, Tyson is planning its own plant-based food products.

NotCo is also riding another high-tech trend: artificial intelligence for food/flavor creation and molecular food construction. Companies like Tastewise, Analytical Flavor Systems and even spice giant, McCormick are using the power of artificial intelligence to power the development of new flavors.

It’s safe to say that with all this interest and investment in companies like NotCo means plant-based startups are not going to stop anytime soon.

Plant-Based Food Was Red Hot In 2016

I live in Brooklyn, which means I come across vegan food trucks pretty often. They almost always have something called “faux gras” on the menu: a vegan version of foie gras. Why any vegan wants to pretend she’s eating fatty duck liver is beyond me, but it seems to be a staple of their diet.

It turns out this trend is pretty widespread, and not just among dreadlocked hipsters in Bushwick. Eating sustainably is top of many people’s minds these days, and tech companies are jumping on the opportunity.

Take Impossible Foods, the Silicon Valley sweetheart that has raised more than $150 million to make its veggie burgers that “bleed.” Biochemist and founder Patrick Brown spent around five years and $80 million to develop textured wheat protein, coconut oil, and other plant-based ingredients into the meat patty, and the result is a patty that uses 74 percent water and 95 percent less land, and emits 87 percent less greenhouse gas than its beefy counterpart. In July 2016 celebrity chef and New York City sweetheart David Chang started offering the veggie burger on his menu at Momofuku Nishi, on a first come, first serve basis, of course.

NotCo’s plant-based Mayo, gif via GIPHY

Now there’s news that another company is coming onto the scene. Chilean startup NotCo uses artificial intelligence to help it recreate the flavors and textures of animal-based foods with plants. Its Not Mayo (made with potatoes, peas, basil, and canola oil rather than vegetable oil and eggs) is already available at a major supermarket in Chile, and the company is working on plant-based cheese, yogurt, milk, and (you guessed it) pate. NotCo has also spoken with Coca-Cola, Hershey, and Mars about recreating both soda and milk chocolate with solely plant-based ingredients.

Just think: In a few years you may be able to grab a “bleeding veggie” burger to go, then eat it at home with a plant-based “chocolate milkshake,” illuminated by a lamp made out of mushrooms.