Ingredion Ventures, Lever VC, and Sucden
Ventures join existing key investors to close an
$18M funding round.
DAVIS,
Calif., Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Oobli, the
first company in the world to successfully build a sweet protein
platform, today announced its partnership with Ingredion, a leading
global ingredient solutions provider. Together, Oobli and Ingredion
will accelerate industry access to great-tasting, affordable and
healthier sweetener systems by bringing natural sweetener solutions
like stevia alongside Oobli proteins – proteins that
sweeten.
"Sweet proteins are a long-overdue addition to the toolkit of
better-for-you sweeteners," said Ali
Wing, CEO at Oobli. "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."
Sweet proteins are a great-tasting, healthier
sweetener that can be a foundational part of any combination
of sweetener ingredients in food and beverages, including sodas,
baked goods, yogurts, candies and more. Sweet proteins can also be
used to cost effectively complement other natural sweeteners,
helping food companies achieve ideal levels of sweetness, meet
nutrition objectives and manage costs.
"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," said Nate Yates, VP and GM Sugar Reduction and Fiber
Fortification, CEO Pure Circle at Ingredion. "Whether we're
enhancing existing sweetener systems with sweet proteins or using
our established sweeteners to unlock new possibilities, we see
incredible synergies across these platforms."
Oobli and Ingredion recently tested several co-developed
products to better understand the opportunities for sweet proteins
and stevia. Both companies shared enthusiasm about the consumer
feedback collected, which ultimately led to the partnership. Next
month, the two companies will unveil some of these novel sweet
treats at Future Food Tech in San
Francisco on March 13-14,
2025.
This partnership news follows recent announcements by Oobli that
it had received FDA GRAS "no questions" letters for two sweet
proteins (monellin and brazzein), confirming that these novel sweet
proteins are safe to be used as a sweetener in food and beverage
products.
In addition to their latest regulatory and partnership
announcements, Oobli has also recently completed $18M in Series B1 funding, adding new strategic
food and ag investors including Ingredion Ventures, Lever VC, and
Sucden Ventures. These new investors join existing Oobli investors
Khosla Ventures, Piva Capital, B37 Ventures and other leading
investors.
This round supports Oobli's expansion across food and beverages
with sweet proteins, both as a standalone solution, as well as in
combination with other natural sweeteners, such as stevia,
developed in partnership with Ingredion.
About Oobli
Oobli is a sweet protein technology
platform company focused on replacing sugar in food and beverages.
Sweet proteins have no glycemic impact or effect on the gut
microbiome. Produced via fermentation, Oobli sweet proteins are
both cost-effective as a sweetener replacement and climate
friendly, saving massive amounts of land, water and carbon compared
to farmed sugarcane. Oobli is the first and only company in the
world regulated to sell sweet proteins as a sweetener, with two FDA
"no questions" letters, four proteins with self-affirmed FDA GRAS
status and one protein with FDA FEMA GRAS status. In addition to
selling its own protein-sweetened chocolates, Oobli partners with
companies to help deliver great-tasting, affordable and healthier
products. For more information, visit oobli.com.
About Ingredion
Ingredion Incorporated (NYSE:
INGR) headquartered in the suburbs of Chicago, is a leading global ingredient
solutions provider serving customers in more than 120 countries.
With 2024 annual net sales of approximately $7.4 billion, the company turns grains, fruits,
vegetables, and other plant-based materials into value-added
ingredient solutions for the food, beverage, animal nutrition,
brewing and industrial markets. With Ingredion's Idea
Labs® innovation centers around the world and more than
11,000 employees, the company co-creates with customers and
fulfills its purpose of bringing the potential of people, nature,
and technology together to make life better. Visit ingredion.com
for more information and the latest company news.
Media Contact
press@oobli.com
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SOURCE Oobli
