Who did you call a cow?
Pea protein as a substitute for animal protein (Photo: ShutterStock)
The miracle peas: the start-up that will make us consume less meat?
As part of our travels among start-up companies that try not only to make money but also to make the world a better place, we discovered Aquinum, which with the help of artificial intelligence locates plant protein sources with unique properties.
What does it mean and how much is it worth?
Tseli Greenberg
Dr. His Gil woke up one morning and decided he wanted to start a company. But he wasn't looking to make waves and compete with his colleagues in the big companies, so he founded Aquinum, a company that deals with a small niche of plant protein cultivation.
In his egg, however, he decided Let there be only one king, and as befits a retired general patrol he set himself a goal - to find and cultivate the best plant protein sources for humans.
Those that can be a tasty, high-quality, healthy and cheaper substitute for the current source of protein - the meat.
The small seed of entrepreneurship he planted in 2012 turned out to be a miracle pea a few years later, which led him straight to gold.
One of the turning points in the field in which he worked was the signing of the Paris Agreements (2015) which obliged the partnership to meet emission targets created, among other things, from meat farming.
The convention led the food industries in Western countries to look for alternatives to animal protein.
Aquinum, which started with protein extracted from peas, was one of them.
This pea led it to the golden egg in the form of the 71 million dollars it has raised since its activity began, and this is also due to the wave of investments that enveloped the field, including Aquinum, as a result of the wind blowing from the direction of Paris.
The wave has indeed forgotten, but the wind is still whistling in the industry;
According to the data of the American market research company GMI, the global alternative protein market stood at approximately 60.45 billion dollars in 2021, and is expected to stand at approximately 193.75 billion dollars by 2028 - growth of 18.5% year after year.
Protein is one of the essential nutrients for the human body, among other things, for the benefit of the immune system, blood transport, regulating the water balance in the body and more.
It can be obtained from several sources including meat and fish, alongside sources defined as alternative such as insects and plants.
The demand for alternative protein began with the increase in the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, and continued with the increase in awareness of the quality of the environment, along with recognition of the health disadvantages caused by the consumption of processed meat.
Data from the website "Statista" from the first half of 2022 show that 44% of adults in Western countries stated that they would eat less meat to slow down global warming.
We should note that today there are about 7.9 billion people living on the globe, all of whom need to eat.
This is also the reason why Aquinum states that it does not intend to compete with the food industry, but to be an aid to it by developing solutions that will be a better substitute for the protein produced from meat, in terms of taste, quality and price.
To do this, the company located varieties of plant protein sources with unique properties, using AI technology it developed and called Manna, which uses advanced algorithms to characterize the biochemical and genomic properties of seed varieties.
The purpose of the technology is to develop desirable ingredients and properties for food production such as delicate taste, light color, high protein and more, without any genetic modification, thus allowing food companies to develop sustainable alternatives as an alternative to meat and dairy products.
Dr. Gil Shalov, founder and CEO of Aquinum (Photo: Tali Talmid)
Equinom, ID card
Field of activity
: Foodtech.
Breeding seeds for plants that are sources of protein for humans
Date of establishment
: 2012
Founder
: Dr. Gil Shalu (47), who serves as the company's CEO.
Vision
: To change the food industry, the quality of the environment and the health of people, by developing a vegetable protein that will be a high-quality, healthy and tasty alternative to meat, and more economical for the food industry and the consumers who purchase the finished products from it.
Employees
: 51, of which 39 are in Givat Brenner in Israel and the rest in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
The company's total fundraising since its establishment
: 71 million dollars
among the investors
: Synthesis Capital, BayWa, Bunge, CPT, Prasidium, the Phoenix, Fortissimo, Trend-Lines, the seed 39, Mavrick.
Among the company's clients
: North American vegetable protein production companies.
Companies operating in the field
: Benson Hill, Brightseed, and more.
D.
Bar the CEO
: "For years, humans improved the animal food of the various households to encourage their growth, strength, etc., and the time has come to improve and cultivate the plant food of humans as well.
We started about 12 years ago as pioneers in the cultivation of vegetable protein sources, and later the niche became a wave.
But sometimes it seems as if the meat substitute industry is trying to replace parts of the food industry, while in order to succeed in its mission, both operationally and ideologically, those working in it must understand that it is exactly the opposite - they are part of it.
The role that Aquinum sees before its eyes is to provide the food industry with solutions that will recently make it possible to reduce processing processes without losing the taste and quality components, and even to be a source of protein that is healthier and cheaper than the source - the meat."
Of money
world money
Tags
protein
environmental quality
start up