Bluestein Ventures

Jellatech is a biotechnology company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with research and development operations in Wageningen, Netherlands. The company specializes in producing high-quality, animal-free collagen and gelatin through cellular agriculture, which involves growing cells in bioreactors. By eliminating the need for animal sources, Jellatech provides sustainable and safe ingredients for various sectors, including food and beverage, medical, pharmaceutical, and personal care industries. Founded by a team of innovators and scientists, Jellatech aims to create better ingredient products while promoting ethical and sustainable practices in the production of artificial proteins.

BiomeSense, Inc. is a company that specializes in developing an integrated platform combining hardware, software, and data analytics to enhance the collection and analysis of microbiome data in clinical research. Founded in 2018 and based in Chicago, Illinois, BiomeSense has created the GutLab, an innovative "smart bathroom" system designed for continuous, at-home monitoring of the human gut microbiome. This technology, along with the MetaBiome time-series analytics platform, provides a comprehensive solution that enables researchers, patients, and consumers to track microbiome changes in real time and understand their impact on health outcomes. By generating and analyzing large-scale, longitudinal microbiome datasets, BiomeSense aims to discover and commercialize novel microbiome biomarkers, ultimately improving precision medicine and the development of microbiome-based therapeutics and products.

Free From Market provides inclusive access to personalized, nutritious groceries and educational resources for those living with chronic health conditions.

People Science is a technology-driven research and development platform focused on alternative medicine. The company facilitates connections between health-conscious individuals, medical professionals, and research scientists while supporting manufacturers in creating products grounded in scientific testing. By providing a scaled research platform, People Science enables customers to identify alternative medicines that may aid in their wellness journeys, ensuring that these solutions are backed by rigorous research and evidence.

Crafty, LLC is a Chicago-based company that specializes in providing snacks, beverages, and event programs for workplaces. The company offers a diverse range of products, including beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, perishables, and pantry supplies. Crafty focuses on enhancing workplace experiences through services related to kitchen and pantry management, catering, lunch, and hosting events like happy hours. Catering to over 260 offices and supporting 300,000 employees each month, Crafty streamlines food, beverage, and supply management for in-office, remote, and hybrid teams worldwide. By partnering with global brands, Crafty aims to improve productivity and workplace satisfaction.

New Culture is a food and beverage company based in San Francisco, California, founded in 2018. The company specializes in producing animal-free cheese using innovative methods that involve microflora to create dairy proteins. By focusing on sustainable and ethical practices, New Culture aims to revolutionize the cheese-making process, offering a variety of delicious and healthy cheese alternatives. Their products are designed to reduce dependency on animal agriculture while providing consumers with access to nutritious dairy-like options.

Filtricine, Inc. is a venture-backed, clinical stage biotech company based in Santa Clara, CA. We are developing a nutrient modulation platform which can identify metabolic vulnerabilities in cancers and exploit those vulnerabilities without the use of drugs.

Jellatech is a biotechnology company based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with research and development operations in Wageningen, Netherlands. The company specializes in producing high-quality, animal-free collagen and gelatin through cellular agriculture, which involves growing cells in bioreactors. By eliminating the need for animal sources, Jellatech provides sustainable and safe ingredients for various sectors, including food and beverage, medical, pharmaceutical, and personal care industries. Founded by a team of innovators and scientists, Jellatech aims to create better ingredient products while promoting ethical and sustainable practices in the production of artificial proteins.

Torch, Inc. is a manufacturer of Wi-Fi routers designed specifically for parents to monitor and manage their children's internet usage. Based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company offers a router that features a pause function for internet access, content filtering, and tools for tracking web history and data consumption. This device allows parents to customize internet access and engage in meaningful conversations with their children about online activities. By consolidating the management of all connected devices into one user-friendly platform, Torch aims to empower parents to navigate the challenges of digital parenting without requiring technical expertise. The company's focus is on promoting healthy internet habits and fostering open communication between parents and children in an increasingly digital world.

Torch Logistics, LLC, founded in 2019 and based in Chicago, Illinois, operates a digital freight marketplace that connects small carriers with high-volume shippers. The company offers an integration and data aggregation platform designed to simplify logistics, providing real-time visibility and guaranteed capacity for shipments. By assembling a network of reliable short-haul drayage carriers, Torch aims to address specific market challenges and enhance transparency in the logistics sector. The company's mission is to foster connections and solve problems within logistics, emphasizing a customer-centric approach that values relationships over transactions.

Cultured Decadence is a startup based in Madison, Wisconsin, focused on cellular aquaculture to produce crustacean products. Founded in 2020, the company employs innovative cell culture and tissue engineering techniques to create lobster and crab meat directly from the animals' cells, eliminating shell, organs, and waste. This approach addresses the increasing global demand for sustainable and nutritious seafood, offering a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fishing methods.

Grovara LLC, founded in 2010 and based in Miami, Florida, operates as a B2B global marketplace that connects U.S. wellness brands with international retailers. The company specializes in distributing agricultural commodities and healthy food and beverage products, including natural foods, snacks, and beverages such as coconut water and frozen fruit bars. Grovara's platform facilitates the marketing and sales of food and beverage products by enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to efficiently reach global distributors and retailers. The marketplace streamlines product discovery, order processing, and fulfillment for export, while also providing insights-driven data to help brands and retailers accelerate growth and scale their businesses.

New Culture is a food and beverage company based in San Francisco, California, founded in 2018. The company specializes in producing animal-free cheese using innovative methods that involve microflora to create dairy proteins. By focusing on sustainable and ethical practices, New Culture aims to revolutionize the cheese-making process, offering a variety of delicious and healthy cheese alternatives. Their products are designed to reduce dependency on animal agriculture while providing consumers with access to nutritious dairy-like options.

Reel is an online retail marketplace focused on providing eco-friendly toilet paper made from 100% sustainable bamboo. The company offers a product that is free from inks, dyes, and BPA while maintaining the softness and strength comparable to traditional toilet paper. Customers can conveniently subscribe to receive deliveries directly to their doors, ensuring they never run out. In addition to promoting sustainability, Reel has a social mission; for every box of toilet paper sold, the company donates a biodegradable toilet bag to individuals in need, addressing the lack of sanitation access for 2.4 billion people worldwide.

Mori is a developer of an edible and natural biomaterial coating that extends the shelf life of perishable foods. It uses salt and water to extract the protein from natural silk and creates a protective layer that keeps food fresher for longer enabling it to economically and sustainably transform the food supply by developing and commercializing technologies for the food, agriculture, and packaging industries. It was founded in 2016 by Adam Behrens and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Meati Foods is a Boulder, Colorado-based company specializing in the production and sale of fungi-based meat alternatives. Founded in 2016, the company aims to provide sustainable and nutritious plant-based options that serve as an alternative to traditional meat products. Meati Foods utilizes a proprietary fermentation process to create minimally processed steaks made from natural ingredients, ensuring its offerings are free from common allergens. The company markets its products online, making them accessible to a wide audience seeking vegan food choices that are both healthy and environmentally friendly.

Pear Chef, Inc. is a Chicago-based company that specializes in providing room service amenities to luxury apartment buildings. Founded in 2018, it offers an onsite, on-demand dining experience with a menu that features hot, fresh, and seasonally inspired meals delivered directly to residents' doors. In addition to its room service, Pear Chef provides professional catering services, private cooking classes, and personalized in-home dining experiences for residents and their guests. This comprehensive approach allows customers to enjoy quality dining options, including fresh meals, snacks, and customized drink pairings, all tailored to enhance their culinary experience at home.

Yerbae is a sparkling water technology company that specializes in plant-based energy beverages. It aims to deliver an enhanced experience that stimulates the body and focuses the mind without the jitters and crashes typically associated with energy drinks.

Buddy Nutrition, Inc. develops and produces a variety of personalized nutritional products aimed at meeting individual health and fitness needs. Based in Santa Monica, California, the company offers ultra-customizable nutrition solutions, including vitamin shots and organic, plant-based superfood smoothies. These products are designed to be convenient and delivered directly to consumers' doors. Founded in 2017, Buddy Nutrition focuses on providing natural ingredients that allow for tailored nutrition, ensuring that customers receive tasty and effective options that cater to their unique requirements.

Rethink Brands is a solution-based beverage company that is focused on optimizing the products of everyday life. It is a drink for all occasions, may it be birthday parties, soccer game refreshments, and lunch table concessions, children could see a good bit of sugar over the course of any given day.

Get Bizzy Inc. produces organic cold brew coffee products under the brand name Bizzy Coffee, offering flavors such as black, vanilla, and caramel. The company emphasizes health and convenience, providing vegan and gluten-free options that are free from peanuts and nuts. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Get Bizzy operates an online retail platform and sells its products through various retail outlets, as well as offering wholesale options. The founders, Alex and Andrew, developed their passion for cold brew coffee while seeking a healthier and more convenient energy source during their busy lives. After discovering cold brew's benefits, they dedicated years to perfecting their product to ensure it met quality and convenience standards. Today, Get Bizzy is recognized for delivering a healthy, ready-to-drink coffee solution that caters to the demands of modern consumers.

Factor is a subscription-based meal delivery service that specializes in providing fresh, ready-to-eat meals crafted by chefs and designed by nutritionists. The company focuses on health and wellness, offering a rotating menu that includes options such as keto, Paleo, low-carb, vegetarian, plant-based, and high-protein meals. These meals are fully prepared and can be quickly heated in a microwave or oven, making them convenient for consumers. Factor prioritizes the use of fresh ingredients sourced from trusted partners, ensuring that its meals are free from hormones, antibiotics, gluten, refined sugars, and GMOs. Founded in 2013 in Batavia, Illinois, Factor aims to deliver a balanced combination of nutrition and taste to enhance overall well-being.

Monument is a smart storage device that collects personal photos and videos from smartphones, cameras and provides a dead simple way to store, organize, share and view them. Monument’s Artificial Intelligence analyzes and organizes photos by date, location, camera type, faces, and what’s in them; even if they have not tagged them before.

Occasion is an online tool that assists firms in connecting with their customers. The platform offers analytics, calendars, integration, management, payment, promotion, publishing, and support services to its clients. Analytics consists of dashboard, google analytics, and sales, trend, export, and tax reports. Calendars consist of calendar synchronization, display, and personalization. Integration consists of email marketing, accounting, and automation. Management consists of customer profiles, accounts, and online and retail synchronization. Payment consists of taxes, payment gateways, store credit, and automatic taxes. Promotion consists of gift cards, vouchers, discounts, and promotional dashboards. Publishing consists of website sales, personalized URLs, Facebook, and twitter. Occasion was launched in 2013 by Pelle ten Cate, Aksh Gupta, Eric Di Silvestro, and Kieran Klaassen and is based in Chicago.

Factor is a subscription-based meal delivery service that specializes in providing fresh, ready-to-eat meals crafted by chefs and designed by nutritionists. The company focuses on health and wellness, offering a rotating menu that includes options such as keto, Paleo, low-carb, vegetarian, plant-based, and high-protein meals. These meals are fully prepared and can be quickly heated in a microwave or oven, making them convenient for consumers. Factor prioritizes the use of fresh ingredients sourced from trusted partners, ensuring that its meals are free from hormones, antibiotics, gluten, refined sugars, and GMOs. Founded in 2013 in Batavia, Illinois, Factor aims to deliver a balanced combination of nutrition and taste to enhance overall well-being.

FourKites, Inc. is a Chicago-based software company that specializes in developing a predictive supply chain platform for freight brokers and shippers. Founded in 2013, it provides a real-time tracking solution that enhances the visibility of shipments for shippers, carriers, third-party logistics companies, and freight brokers. The platform includes features like BackHaul Management, which helps identify potential deadhead miles, and CarrierLink, which facilitates real-time communication between brokers and owner-operators. By leveraging AI technology, FourKites creates comprehensive digital representations of supply chains, automates problem resolution, and improves collaboration among stakeholders. This approach enables businesses to enhance operational efficiency, lower costs, and strengthen customer relationships through improved on-time performance and proactive management of shipment exceptions.