July 23, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Evolv Ventures, a venture capital arm of Kraft Heinz, has led a $6.9 million Series A for food tech startup Joywell Foods, the developer of a sweet protein platform that could reinvent food and reduce sugar consumption. 

Khosla Ventures and SOSV, both investors in Joywell’s Seed Round, which combined with this Series A brings Joywell’s total funding to $13.2 million, have returned to participate in this round, along with Alumni Ventures Group and others.

Americans typically consume an average of 17 teaspoons of sugar per day, or 57 pounds of added sugars per year. However, driven by the trend toward a more healthy lifestyle and diet, consumers have targeted sugar as the next ingredient to reduce or eliminate from their food choices.

A poll conducted on January 15, 2016 by Reuters/Ipsos found that 58 percent of adults surveyed responded that they attempted to reduce the sugar content in their diet within the past 30 days – reflecting a higher percentage compared to the percent of consumers trying to reduce calories, or fat, salt, cholesterol, or carbohydrates.

Since then, this trend has not let up. A survey conducted by Innova Market Insights last year found that three in five U.S. consumers would rather cut sugar out of their diet than opt for artificial sweeteners. And as the market reacts to this sentiment, it creates an opportunity for new food technologies such as Joywell’s, which has been perceived to taste closer to sugar than artificial sweeteners, to gain investor notice and capital. 

Formerly known as Miraculex, Joywell Foods is creating a brand-new class of sweet protein products that are not only exponentially sweeter than sugar, but do not cause the long-term negative metabolic effects that sugar does such as diabetes, heart disease, and liver disease.

“Our team is excited to bring sweet proteins to commercial scale with the support of our newest investor, Evolv Ventures,” said Karen Huh, CEO, Joywell Foods. 

“These funds bring us one step closer to our vision of eliminating the prevalence of sugar in our diet,” noted Huh, adding, “Sweet proteins – many of which are over 1000 times sweeter than sugar – can reduce how much sugar we consume in our daily lifestyle.”

With the funds from this Series A, the company plans to continue its mission to “reinvent the experience of everyday foods” by building out its proprietary technology platform, and by expanding its product portfolio and its R&D operations.

Plans are also in the pipeline to text a number of consumer products through direct-to-consumer and limited retail initiatives. 

“We believe in the sweet protein space and its application in consumer products,” said Steve Sanger, founder and partner, Evolv Ventures, and newest board member at Joywell Foods.

“Joywell Foods is a thought leader in this area and is pioneering solutions that enable great taste and reduce mainstream sugar consumption. The company has the potential to make a big impact in the sweet protein space.”

The past 10 months have been a pivotal time full of accomplishments for the company. Not only did it file three provisional patent applications, it also published a peer-reviewed toxicology study on miraculin, a berry protein sweetener that is up to 5,500 times sweeter than sugar, and commercialized the Pop Lolly – its first-to-market reduced sugar popsicle product that is sweetened with miraculin. 

In September 2019 the startup also saw Huh assume the role of CEO, joining CTO and co-founder Jason Ryder to lead the company’s rebranding from Miraculex to Joywell Foods – a move that was undertaken to better reflect the company’s pursuit of several sweet proteins that are thousands of times sweeter than sugar.

With this funding, Joywell strengthens its competitiveness with other startups eyeing sugar reduction from widely different angles.

Israel-based food tech startup Doux Matok raised a $22 million Series B one year ago to advance its method of transforming how sugar is tasted and perceived by humans, and how it is utilized by the food industry.

Last year also saw Singapore’s Nutrition Innovation (NI) raise a $5 million Series A in support of Nucane – a range of healthier, low-glycemic sugars that retain their calcium, magnesium, and potassium content that can be produced at an industrial scale at a competitive cost to traditionally refined sugar. 

Major CPGs also have a highly-vested interest in sugar reduction technology as demonstrated by Nestle, which has developed a structured sugar made from a mixture of sugar, milk powder, and water that is sprayed into warm air – creating an amorphous and porous sugar that can reduce intake by as much as 40 percent in confectionery items such as chocolate. 

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.