lswcap
Shiru is a graduate company of Y Combinator that is trying to make a new functional protein using various fungi. Founder Jasmin Hume was originally a director of food chemistry at Just, known as Hampton Creek, also known as pure vegetable mayonnaise. The mission of Shiru is derived from Chinese and homophones, which means meat. He has been working at Just to identify and classify the proteins and other chemicals contained in it, researching other team members and various plant ingredients.
Siru tries to provide a service to find the ideal protein for a variety of purposes required by the food industry. Various purposes in the food industry specifically refer to various food additives. The goal is to find the protein that best meets the properties or functions of the required food additive. What we are looking for is maximum solubility of viscosity, stability of foam, emulsification and connectivity.
In this respect, Siru’s method can be said to be similar to the initial product development roadmap of Geltor, a bio-design platform company. Zelter, which aims to produce functional proteins, has raised $18 million so far and has changed its direction to target proteins for the beauty and cosmetics industries rather than food. It seems that Siru chose the field that Zelter discarded.
Shiru hasn’t introduced any products yet, but Hume says Shiru is aiming to develop several kinds of genetically engineered food ingredients. It is a protein made from yeast, bacteria, and fungi that have not yet been published as target organisms and food ingredients that produce them. Through molecular design and machine learning, we will find more functional proteins than before, and the required protein properties are said to be inspired by nature.
In addition to the first protein pilot production this year, Siru plans to continue producing small quantities within 2020. Related information can be found here .
Add comment