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Food & Agriculture Innovators

Mike Betts from the Food & Agriculture Innovators Podcast and formerly Director of Investments at AgFunder sits down to interview entrepreneurs and investors from around the world building technology innovation to sustainably and profitably improve the global food system. Discover untold stories about how companies have been built, technologies on the horizon, where investors are seeing opportunities, and the challenges and opportunities abundant today as we work to feed the growing population.

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  2. 7: Less Sugar, More Protein Using Mushroom Technology - Alan Hahn of MycoTechnology

7: Less Sugar, More Protein Using Mushroom Technology - Alan Hahn of MycoTechnology

Oct 19, 2017

Alan Hahn is the co-founder and CEO of MycoTechnology, a food ingredient technology company. The company creates fungi-based powders using a proprietary fermentation process. Their product line today includes a taste modulating powder called ClearTasteTM and a protein powder called PureTasteTM. They've also shown the ability to remove toxins in foods and are working through "probably a lifetime of ideas" in using fungi to improve food. The big wins today though are that their ClearTasteTM product allows food manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar they use in foods without sacrificing taste. Approved in over 70 countries, you may have eaten food with their powder in it (you wouldn't know). And their protein is vegan, allergen friendly, non-GMO, highly sustainable and has minimal taste and aroma - making it a useful ingredient for companies making meat alternative foods. Having just raised $42 million in funding in their Series B funding round, MycoTechnology is just getting started.

Get the full show notes here.

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In this interview, we cover:

  • [4:15] The technology using fungi
  • [6:56] You may already be eating MycoTechnology’s mushrooms
  • [9:35] The company’s new Protein PureTasteTM
  • [13:41] What protein is this replacing?
  • [21:25] How MycoTechnology got started
  • [26:09] “Probably a lifetime of ideas” to work on
  • [27:49] Challenges in building and scaling MycoTechnology
  • [33:02] Biggest Surprises in building in the Food Industry and Fundraising
  • [36:18] Advice for startups

Thanks for listening, don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And check out all the shows on the website here, foodaginnovators.com.