[Funding alert] Food ingredient startup Proeon raises Rs 17.5 Cr in seed round

Pune based food ingredient startup Proeon has recently raised Rs 17.5 crore as seed capital. The funding round, led by entrepreneur Shaival Desai, also saw participation from Flowstate Ventures, Peak Sustainability Venture Fund I (executed by Samir Shah on behalf of the Fund), Waoo Partners (Pratul Shroff family office), and other angel investors. Existing investor Sanjaya Mariwala, MD of OmniActive Health Technologies Limited, also participated in this round.

According to an official statement, the funds will be utilised to enhance growth and set up a research lab in the Netherlands, Europe, filing IP, scaling up production and expanding the team. 

Founded in 2018 by Ashish Korde and Kevin Parekh, Proeon helps solve critical formulation challenges at the ingredient level, making it easier for food companies to make tastier and healthier plant-based meat, dairy, and egg replacement products.  

Speaking on the funding, founders Kevin Parekh and Ashish Korde said,

“We are at the centre of creating next-gen plant protein ingredients and are delighted with the trust shown by our investors. By relentlessly focusing on innovation and partnering with large global brands as well as startups, we are working towards creating food products that are hassle-free to formulate, and are loved by consumers.

Our immediate focus would be expanding presence in the markets of North America and Europe, where the shift to plant proteins is accelerating at an unprecedented pace.”

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Commenting on the investment, entrepreneur Shaival Desai, who has also invested in startups such as Licious and Peesafe, said,

“We're really happy to have partnered with Proeon in their journey to innovate in the alternative proteins space. Kevin and Ashish bring deep industry experience and thorough technical understanding of the proteins space and are the perfect team to cater to this industry that thrives on innovation.”

Currently, the company is working with brands from Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia to build more sustainable and healthier plant-based alternatives such as highly functional plant-based egg-replacement products, clean-label burgers, patties, and alternative dairy products. In collaboration with their partners and customers, they are also aiming to save more than 170 billion litres of water, and eliminate about 150 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions by replacing wasteful, animal-based foods with plant-based alternatives. 

“We are thrilled to invest in Proeon which is catering to a rapidly growing market of plant-based proteins in India and globally. Proeon’s technology will have a major societal impact by solving climate change and nutrition challenges of today. The team has demonstrated exceptional technical and strategic capabilities, and is strongly positioned for exponential growth,” added Anjani Bansal, Founder – Flowstate Angel Investment Fund. 

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