Joywell Foods is a food technology and consumer goods company leveraging microbial fermentation to unlock the power of sweet plant proteins in our modern diets. Sweet proteins, derived from exotic fruits and berries that evolved to provide sugar-like sweetness without sugar, are over 2000x sweeter than sugar, much lower in calories, and don’t impact blood sugar levels. Offering a better tasting and healthier alternative for the modern-day sweet tooth, Joywell Foods’ sweet protein platform presents a category-defining brand opportunity to change the role of sugar in our favorite foods.
The company announced it has raised an oversubscribed $25 million Series B funding round last Friday to bring sweet protein products to consumers for the first time. The round was led by Piva Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, with participation from B37 Ventures and Global Brain Corporation as well as existing investors Khosla Ventures, SOSV’s IndieBio, Alumni Ventures and Evolv Venture. As a part of the transaction, Piva Partner and Co-Founder Adzmel Adznan will join Joywell’s board.
Joywell Foods utilises a proprietary microbial fermentation process to produce nature-identical sweet proteins found in exotic fruits and berries. These sweet proteins are great at mimicking the taste of sugar, and as proteins, they don’t impact blood sugar levels or gut microbiomes. Plus, since they are 2,000-5,500 times sweeter than sugar on a weight basis, a little goes a long way, making sweet proteins a very efficient solution.
“Worldwide, consumers love their sweets; we want people everywhere to have their cake and eat it too!” said Joywell Foods CEO Ali Wing. “Novel proteins that are sweet change the game for consumers – great-tasting, healthy and good for the climate all in one. In partnership with our top-tier group of global investors, we’re excited to bring sweet proteins to market.”
Over the past 12 months, Joywell Foods has scaled its sweet protein platform across multiple proteins, developing consumer products and gearing up for launch. With this new funding, Joywell plans to continue to accelerate R&D and scale up for commercialisation across its entire sweet protein platform.
Sweet for the Environment!
At scale, sweet proteins have profound implications not only for people’s health but also for the planet. Every one percent reduction in sugar production results in approximately 650,000 acres of sugar cane fields saved. Joywell’s low carbon footprint, and health-forward, naturally-fermented sweet proteins directly support less deforestation and healthier ecosystems.
Sweets and health
“Traditional sugar is not only the chief culprit in our battle with obesity and diabetes, but it also requires millions of acres of land impacting precious ecosystems,” said Adzmel Adznan, Partner and Co-founder, Piva Capital. “Joywell Foods’ sweet proteins are a genuine breakthrough in addressing both of these critical issues. We look forward to supporting Ali and the team as they accelerate from R&D to commercial success.”
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