In California, sweet protein startup Oobli has partnered with Ingredion to accelerate access to affordable and healthier sweetener systems.
Sweet proteins can be a foundational part of any combination of sweetener ingredients in food and beverages, including sodas, baked goods, yogurts, and candies, according to an Oobli press release. 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.
“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.”
The partnership closely follows announcements by Oobli that it had received FDA GRAS “no questions” letters for two sweet proteins, monellin and brazzein. Oobli has also recently completed an $18 million 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.