One of the largest food companies in the world is getting in on cocoa free chocolate.
What’s happening:
- Food technology startup Voyage Foods has raised $52M USD in a new Series A financing round
- The round was led by Level One Fund and Horizon Ventures
The big idea:
- Voyage Foods produces bean free coffee, cocoa free chocolate and peanut free spreads through the use of sustainable ingredients
- Voyage Foods does this by creating molecular maps of select food types to better understand each ingredient as a compound and then sourcing new ingredients that are less harmful to the environment
Why it matters:
- Voyage Foods recently entered into a exclusive distribution deal with food conglomerate Cargill, in which Voyage Foods will provide their climate friendly ingredients to Cargill to be used by their subsidiaries and brands
By the numbers:
- Voyage Foods has raised $94M USD in venture capital funding since inception
- The price of chocolate has recently reached an all time high of $10,000 USD per ton, which is an increase of more than 250% year over year
- Voyage Foods products are currently in over 1,200 Walmart (NYSE: WMT) locations across North America
Going deeper:
- Cargill has been making a flurry of venture capital bets on emerging food technology startups lately, backing companies focused on everything from lab grown meat to producing protein from mushrooms
The intrigue:
- Cargill is currently the largest privately held company in the entire United States
