The Craftory is a new venture capital fund co-founded by consumer industry veteran Elio Leoni Sceti and Bezos Expeditions, of Jeff Bezos – CEO of Amazon and the richest man in the world. The Craftory, which describes itself as an “Investment House that has grown tired of phoney brands that waste our time and the planet’s resources”, has invested $30 million in Chilean vegan startup “NotCo” – a company which uses Artificial Intelligence to create plantbased food formulas.
“We were looking for the perfect first investment since the creation of The Craftory last summer,” said Sceti in a statement. “NotCo are at the beginning of their journey, and can become a global brand.”
The Chilean company currently sells chickpea-based vegan mayonnaise Not Mayo, in Walmarts (Chile’s largest retailer) throughout Chile. NotCo plans to extend its range and reach to Mexico and the USA later this year.
Co-founded by Muchnick, former astrophysicist Karim Pichara, and Pablo Zamora, NotCo aims to create a better future through sustainable, plant-based food with the aid of its AI software called “Giuseppe.” Giuseppe is a computer program capable of generating known food formulas based only on plant ingredients, imitating the taste and texture of foods that you want to replicate. Giuseppe was created from an artificial intelligence algorithm that looks for patterns that occur in traditional plant and food data.
Muchnick, NotCo’s founder and CEO, is delighted with the investment.“It is a great endorsement to have both The Craftory and Bezos Expeditions invest in our business as we continue to innovate and create enjoyable sustainable new alternative food products,” he said in a statement. “Their expertise in both FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) and technology will allow us to further disrupt the food industry and expand our offering to a global audience.”
