For the life of me, I can’t fully understand it… the same people that are against GMOs and Crisper Technology in the fields are oftentimes the same people who are now big fans of fake meats or proteins grown in the lab. I just shake my head in disbelief but we have to continue to pay close attention and respect the market share and the money getting behind some of these businesses and movements.
The EVERY Co., is a startup that has developed a precision fermentation technology to make animal-free proteins. Back in the spring, the company secured a deal with BioBrew, an investment of AB InBev’s investment arm, ZX Ventures, to brew its animal-free protein at scale. Then earlier this month the company announced an oversubscribed Series C round of $175 million. The company is looking to do what every synthetic biology company is wanting to do… fundamentally transform the food system industry into the 21st century.
Perhaps most significantly, we continue to see the global demand for alternative proteins growing, while the infrastructure needed to produce the necessary ingredients are still trying to catch up. The EVERY Co. and several others are starting to take bigger steps towards filling that gap, especially as they get more investors and are able to hire some of the best and brightest. From what I understand, during the last two years, the EVERY Co. has grown from pre-revenue to revenue, from under 30 employees to +60 employees, received U.S Food and Drug Administration approval for all of its products, and is now selling in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
EVERY’s disruptive advancement in food technology is led by its platform that produces real animal proteins without the use of a single animal. Last year the company launched the world’s first animal-free pepsin with Fortune 500 ingredients company, Ingredion. Most recently, it launched the world’s first animal-free egg protein and in November EVERY made its retail debut by announcing a limited-time partnership with leading national cold-pressed juice brand “Pressed” to serve the world’s first nature-equivalent animal-free protein smoothie directly to consumers.
At the moment, and I suspect for the next several years, the egg market will still be dominated by “real” eggs with global production estimated at more than +1.3 trillion eggs annually. But I have to wonder who long before companies like EVERY Co. and several others who are also working on similar animal-free egg products, change the game? Companies like Simply Eggless and Eat Just, which raised +$200 million earlier this year, and Perfeggt, a Berlin-based food tech company poised to debut its chicken-less egg product in the first quarter of 2022, and who secured several million just last month. EVERY Co. founder and CEO, Arturo Elizondo sees more companies in this area as “a rising tide that lifts all boats” rather than direct competition. Instead, the battle in his opinion is in awareness and getting the products just right so they can be a 1:1 ratio to real eggs.
I should note, the EVERY Co. now has the financial backing of the McWin Food Ecosystem Fund and their 2,300 global restaurants. I have to imagine this means they are going to be well supported in efforts to bring their products directly to consumers via menus worldwide. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to start understanding this math. We have to make sure we are paying attention. (Source: agfunder, busineswire)
