The Live Green Co has raised $7 million in Pre-Series A funding to make food cleaner and more sustainable with AI-driven plant-based ingredients. The company reports it has increased revenue by 10x since 2020.
Founded in Chile in 2018, the food tech startup hopes to usher in “Plant-Based 2.0” – shifting alternative protein from removing animal products to also eliminating processed ingredients and plastic packaging. To fulfill this bold mission, The Live Green Co is relocating to Boston, MA where the company will develop the AI capacities of Charaka, its proprietary intelligence platform.
An AI recommendation engine
Through Charaka, The Live Green Co leverages machine learning and the “ancestral wisdom” of plant nutrition to analyze thousands of plants and plant combinations. This information is used to create a database that can then determine healthy alternatives to synthetic and animal-based food ingredients.
The use of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives remains common throughout the food industry, including the production of plant-based foods. By replacing such additives with clean and functional plant-based ingredients, Live Green believes the company can fundamentally transform the global food system.
The latest funding round was led by Boston’s DRADS Capital and included Draco Capital, Chile’s Fondo Alerce Venture Capital and Mexico’s NOA Capital. The startup says the new funds will be used to set up US headquarters, enhance Charaka’s AI capabilities, bolster IP protections, and build B2B licensing and manufacturing relationships.
Early Success in Chile
The Live Green Co says the company has already completed successful pilot tests with Mexican food manufacturer Sigma, which is also an investor.
As further proof of concept, the startup successfully developed and test-marketed a line of 15 food products in Chile. The plant-based range included burger mixes, baking mixes, frozen burgers and ice creams, which – thanks to Charaka’s formulations – were completely free of allergens, artificial additives, cholesterol and trans fats.
Shifting from “plant-based” to “plant-only”
With Charaka’s help, The Live Green Co hopes to make the healthy plant-based substitute database a “unique global reference point” for the future of food.
“Overall, we have identified over 30 product lines and more than 150 additives that are being consumed the most across the globe, and we are currently focused on creating tastier, healthier, and more sustainable plant-only alternatives for these using Charaka,” says Sasikanth Chemalamudi, co-founder and chief operating officer at The Live Green Co.
Looking ahead, The Live Green Co sees vast opportunities to collaborate with leading companies to facilitate the transition to a healthier and more sustainable food system.
“We see a very strong future-forward trend of reformulation and new product development (NPD) of ‘additives-free’ and ‘clean-label’ products, not just imitating animal products,” says Priyanka Srinivas, the company’s co-founder and CEO.
