Climax Foods, a developer of plant-based food technology, has secured $7.5 million in seed funding as it aims to unlock smarter methods to create plant-based food.

Founded in 2019, the start-up uses data science with the intention of finding a smarter and simpler way to convert plants into food. It aims to find methods which require less processing and results in products with the same or better taste as its animal-based counterparts at a accessible price.

Investors that participated in the round include At One Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, S2G Ventures, Prelude Ventures, ARTIS Ventures and Global Founders Capital.

The start-up says the funding will fuel research in taste, flavour, texture, and nutrition of the most desired animal-based food categories, beginning with cheese.

Based in California, Climax Foods uses artificial intelligence tools to discover how plants can be optimally used to replace diets currently centred around animals.

“Climax Foods is tackling the same opportunity to change the market and the food system, but they are doing it with an entirely novel technological approach,” said Sanjeev Krishnan, chief investment officer of S2G Ventures, which invested in Beyond Meat.

He added: “They are using data science to produce a new category of foods that will not merely compete with, but has the potential to out-compete, traditional proteins in terms of taste, nutritional density, and price. The machine intelligence approach Climax Foods is pioneering is critical for harnessing the vast number of ways raw ingredients and natural processes can be used to create the ultimate digital recipes.”

Oliver Zahn, Climax Foods CEO, started the company with the intention of creating a more sustainable food system. He said: “Today, more than 90% of all mammalian animals and more than 70% of all birds on the planet exist for the sole purpose of metabolising plants and being turned into food.

“This industry is complex and wasteful, creating as much climate change as all modes of transportation combined, and using more than a third of the earth’s water and usable land. By speeding up food science innovation, Climax Foods is able to convert plants into equally craveable foods without the environmental impact.”

Tom Chi, founder of At One Ventures, added: “Climax Foods is unlocking a frontier of how expressive we can be with plant-based foods. They are laying the foundation for a future where healthy, affordable, plant-based foods rival or even surpass the flavour of the animal-based foods they are replacing.”

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