Edacious secures US$8M to advance nutritional transparency in food systems
USA – Edacious, a tech company that provides data on how genetics, soil health, and management practices impact food nutrition, has closed a US$8.1 million series seed funding round.
The deal was led by Patagonia’s Tin Shed Ventures, with participation from the Nest Family Office, Trailhead Capital, Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities, iSelect Capital, First Thirty, Pelican Ag, and other private investors.
With this seed funding, Edacious will scale operations, enhance its proprietary tools, and deepen collaborations across the food system, thereby creating a more transparent food system.
Eric Smith, founder and CEO of Edacious, said, “This funding allows us to build the platform necessary to break the cycle of commoditisation by empowering producers and consumers with verified, actionable data for food quality differentiation.”
The company measures more than 200 compounds essential to human health to offer data on nutritional differences. This data has implications for producers, companies, and markets along the F&B value chain.
According to the company, its comparative benchmarks for whole foods and ingredients can broaden the understanding of nutrition.
While many retailers and consumers view similar food groups as nutritionally identical, the company says its data shows that nutrient levels can vary up to ten times in foods like apples.
Paul Lightfoot, GM of Patagonia Provisions, noted, “Nutritional transparency can reshape our food system. Edacious approaches advance soil health and empower producers and consumers with critical data to make informed choices. We’re proud to support a company that impacts human and environmental health.”
In pursuit of a food system that prioritises human and planetary health, Edacious delivers two core solutions:
One is a next-generation food lab that replaces incomplete and costly testing services with a streamlined, affordable analysis of nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Second, a science-based software platform that allows users to understand, compare, benchmark, and share nutrition data and insights within and outside their organisations.
Additionally, its software platform enables users to compare, benchmark, and share nutrition data for deeper insights within and across organisations.
Pete Oberle of Trailhead Capital concluded, “Nutrient density should be the catalyst for full food and agriculture value chain transformation.
“Edacious is making that possible by measuring and mapping nutrient density ten times faster and cheaper, with an intuitive interface that incentivizes and enables the best regenerative practices from producer to consumer.”
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