Daily Briefing (Insiders Only): The EVERY Company Secures $2M DoD Grant
The EVERY Company has combatted the tough investment terrain and managed to lock in $2 million in new funds from the U.S. Department of Defense, according to an announcement this morning.
The San Francisco food tech outfit will use the new capital to begin testing the feasibility of U.S.-based manufacturing, a shift from the decade-old company’s Europe- and Asia-based production up until now. The cash has also been deployed to assist EVERY in developing military use-cases for its novel proteins.
“Investing in biomanufacturing will allow the United States to safeguard reliable domestic supply chains, reduce reliance on foreign imports, and establish itself as a leader in food technology, especially in the face of rising global challenges such as food insecurity, zoonotic disease risk, and climate change,” said EVERY’s CEO, Arturo Elizondo.
Currently, EVERY produces two proteins: OvoBoost, a soluble protein, and OvoPro, an ovalbumin ingredient designed to be an egg or egg white replacement; the latter secured a foundation patent in the past month that covers its use in a broad range of applications.
Meanwhile, the highly soluble clear, flavorless OvoBoost has been added to various products to-date including items from Unilever-owned Vegetarian Butcher and more as it is distributed by Ingredion. That protein ingredient will be an essential item in EVERY’s military efforts as it works to position it within high-quality, nutrient-dense formats.
“Our technology allows us to bring novel applications to market using our soluble protein. Imagine a glass of water that looks and tastes like water, but contains 20 grams of protein. That’s what our protein can do,” said Elizondo.
But the cash is also a grant of faith for the food tech sector, which has seen others, particularly CPG-focused entities such as Perfect Day and Eat Just, struggle to find their footing and generate consumer appeals for precision-fermented, animal-free products. According to EVERY, it has managed to consistently produce at industrial scale (more than 100,000 liters) but this deal will help it expand production capacity to meet both mass market and military demands.
