December 12, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Now valued at $1.5 billion, NotCo stated that it is the fastest growing food tech company in Latin America. Driving this momentum, the startup announced it closed on a $70 million Series D-1 round of funding led by Princeville Capital that will support the launch of its new B2B unit. 

NotCo grabbed international attention in 2019 when it was the first investment made by Jeff Bezos in Latin America. 

Today, Jeff Bezos is a return investor in the company through Bezos Expeditions, joined by other existing investors Tiger Global, L Catterton, Kaszek Ventures, Future Positive, and The Craftory. New investors participating in the series included Marcos Galperin, the founder and CEO of MercadoLibre – the largest tech company in Latin America.

Founded in Santiago, Chile, by biotech engineer Matías Muchnick, biochemist Pablo Zamora, and computer scientist Karim Pichara, NotCo is disrupting the food and beverage industries by producing plant-based alternatives across the dairy, eggs, and meat segments simultaneously.

Utilizing a proprietary AI technology platform called Giuseppe, NotCo matches animal proteins to their ideal replacements from among thousands of plant-based ingredients. 

The capital raised through this round will be used by the company to launch its new B2B unit, which will enable other CPG brands, ingredient companies, and technology providers to leverage Giuseppe in the development of their own R&D, and in the process, accelerate the evolution of the plant-based industry.

Demonstrating the power of NotCo’s platform, the company has been on an upward trajectory since its early days. In just three years the company has launched NotMilk™, NotBurger™, NotMeat™, NotIceCream™, NotChicken™ and NotMayo™ in the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia, with its products in over 10,000 stores including Costco, Sprouts, Wegmans, Fresh Direct, Amazon, and more. It also has forged international partnerships with Burger King, Shake Shack, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and with celebrity investors Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton, and Questlove.

“Since day one, our mission has been to create a more sustainable world, transforming the food industry by creating delicious plant-based food available for all tables, kitchens and pantries,” said Matias Muchnick, co-founder and CEO, NotCo.

Beyond this impressive growth, Notco has been revolutionizing the plant-based ecosystem, earning 12 U.S. patents on its journey to-date for its ability to recreate the same taste, texture, functionality, and even smell of animal-based foods using only plant-based ingredients.

Indeed, the company has licensed its technology through the newly created joint venture The Kraft Heinz Not Company, which was launched in early 2022 to reimagine global food systems for a more sustainable future by developing plant-based alternatives for Kraft’s iconic products. 

“The joint venture with TheNotCompany is a critical step in the transformation of our product portfolio and a tremendous addition to our brand design-to-value capabilities,” Miguel Patricio, CEO of Kraft Heinz, commented upon the launch.

“It helps deliver on our vision to offer more clean, green, and delicious products for consumers. We believe the technology that NotCo brings is revolutionizing the creation of delicious plant-based foods with simpler ingredients.”

By making its technology available to more of the world’s innovative CPGs looking to create high-quality, scalable plant-based products, NotCo is offering the benefits of extreme accuracy and speed – cutting R&D timelines from years to a matter of months.

“The food industry desperately needs to adopt technology to dramatically accelerate the product development process, reduce cost and address the challenges posed by climate change,” said Joaquin Rodriguez Torres, co-founder, Princeville Capital, who through this partnership will be joining NotCo’s board of directors.

“NotCo is a very unique company in the food tech space globally with immense potential thanks to the team they have built and its one-of-a-kind AI technology. It’s rare to find a company with such an incredible track record of success in a short period of time, and we’re excited to help bolster the company’s growth and expansion.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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