Oobli raises US$18M in B1 funding round to accelerate sweet proteins
USA – Oobli, a sweet protein start-up, has raised US$18m in Series B1 funding to accelerate sweet proteins.
This funding round featured support from new strategic food and agriculture investors, including Ingredion Ventures, Lever VC and Sucden Ventures.
Ali Wing, CEO at Oobli, said: “Sweet proteins are a long-overdue addition to the toolkit of better-for-you sweeteners. Working with Ingredion’s best-in-class teams to pair natural sweeteners with our novel-sweet proteins will deliver game-changing solutions in this important, growing and timely category.”
In addition to raising US$18 million, the company partnered with Ingredion to accelerate sweet proteins.
The partnership was launched following positive feedback collected after both companies co-developed products to better understand the opportunities for sweet proteins and stevia.
Both companies aim to accelerate industry access to healthier, great-tasting, affordable sweetener systems.
They will bring natural sweetener solutions like stevia and Oobli’s sweet protein ingredients through the partnership.
Ingredion’s Nate Yates, VP and GM of Sugar Reduction and Fibre Fortification and CEO of the company’s Pure Circle Sweetener Business, said: “We’ve long been at the forefront of innovation in sugar reduction solutions, and our work with sweet proteins is an exciting new chapter in that journey”.
He added that whether they were enhancing existing sweetener systems with sweet proteins or using our established sweeteners to unlock new possibilities, they see incredible synergies across the platforms.
Oobli earns FDA GRAS
Recently, the company received the US FDA GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status for its sweet protein, monellin, because the FDA confirmed it is safe to use as a sweetener in food and beverages.
Monellin is a sweet protein found in the berries of the West African plant Dioscoreophyllum cumminsii. It’s one of the sweetest compounds known, and is thousands of times sweeter than sugar.
The company focuses on producing sweet proteins to replace sugar in consumables, particularly foods. Produced via fermentation, sweet proteins have no glycemic impact or effect on the gut microbiome
Oobli CEO Ali Wing said, “Customers are really trying to find a healthier sweetener.”
The company said plant-based sweet proteins are cost-effective sweeteners that have the potential to replace more than 70% of sugar in the majority of food and beverages, such as sodas, baked goods, candies, and more.
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