

He added: “We’re generating a whole new supply of cost-effective animal-free dairy protein into the food industry.

What we are doing is compatible with industry standards both in terms of fermentation and the various paths to market, as we’re making dairy ingredients that are every bit as functional and nutritious as the proteins we all know and love.” “We’re scaling up production in partnership with another company that brings a lot to bear in terms of experience in everything related to fermentation. While the company had originally intended to develop its own consumer vegan dairy products first (Perfect Day milk), it has since pivoted to an ingredients-based strategy following a surge of interest from “ some of the most well-known food and dairy companies in the world,” said Pandya. Like fellow Bay area start-up Geltor, Perfect Day is one of a new breed of companies in the ‘cellular agriculture’ business – using genetically engineered yeasts that have been ‘programmed’ to produce proteins or other ingredients found in plants or animals - on an industrial scale, without raising animals, and with less impact on the environment. “They are also willing to take a long-term view, so they are not looking to get return in three to five years… That’s critical especially in food where scaling up takes time and you can’t deliver results in three years.” We’re scaling up in partnership with another company “They also have relationships with some of the largest food companies and brands in the world, which coupled with the investment from Continental Grain, will allow us to accelerate commercialization with a wide variety of partners across food and beverage. But once you come out the other end, you are a better company because of it. We spent six months answering questions non-stop about everything from financial projections, to pressure-testing different scenarios in terms of royalty rates or partnerships, and what things would look like in the market at difference scales. “ Everyone knows that the due diligence they do is extremely thorough. They usually come in for B, C and D rounds when things are further along, but they decided to take the leap and lead the round because this will take us to commercialization.
#The makings for a perfect day series#
He added: “ Temasek put in $10m, and they don’t generally do series A rounds, so we were pretty lucky we managed to get them so early. but you come out the other end a better company

#The makings for a perfect day license#
“I think once we’ve shown this at a commercial scale at super affordable prices, others will come in, but our hope is that at that point, we will have such a big head start, we can just license our technology instead of people spending five or six years to try and develop this themselves.” We spent six months answering questions non-stop. The round was announced as the Berkeley-based firm also celebrated receiving its first patent for the use of animal-free dairy proteins in food applications, co-founder Perumal Gandhi told FoodNavigator-USA: “ Now we can say we have patented technology, which is really exciting. The round - supported by Horizons Ventures, Continental Grain, Iconiq Capital (USA), Lion Ventures, Verus International, and others – is “among the largest food tech series A rounds ever,” said co-founder Ryan Pandya, who is on a mission to introduce dairy ingredients that vegans and dairy lovers alike can enjoy in products “ in every aisle of the grocery store.”

