MassChallenge

microTERRA is focused on creating sustainable food ingredients by utilizing the unique properties of Lemna, an aquatic plant known for its ability to purify water while generating valuable functional ingredients. One of its key products, Flora, enhances sweetness perception and allows for reduced sugar content in food formulations, effectively masking undesirable flavors from high-intensity sweeteners. This innovative approach positions microTERRA within a substantial market opportunity in the food industry. As an ingredient platform, the company aims to develop additional specialty ingredients in a sustainable manner, contributing to a more environmentally friendly food supply chain.

Fotortec is a biotechnology company focused on sustainable protein production. It specializes in producing mushroom-based ingredients that leverage technology to convert various types of vegetable waste into fully traceable plant-based products. This innovative approach aims to provide consumers with adequate nutrition while promoting environmental sustainability. Through its processes, Fotortec contributes to reducing food waste and enhancing the availability of nutritious food options.

Producer of food products intended to provide fish meat alternatives through cell cultivation. The company specializes in producing cultivated cell-based fish fat to greatly enhance the flavor, texture aroma and nutrition of alternative protein products, enabling consumers to get healthy fats such as omega-3 that protect from heart diseases.

unique approach targets end-to-end health, nutrition, fitness and wellness so that no chronic health conditions, Using machine learning to study behavior change. innovative tech is enhanced by human connection through 1:1 coaching.

Cultimate Foods is a cellular agriculture company focused on developing cultivated fat for hybrid alt-meat products. By replicating the structure of animal fat tissue, the company aims to create plant-based fat alternatives that enhance the sensory experience of meat consumption. Utilizing a unique technological approach to 3D cultivation, Cultimate efficiently produces its ingredients while reducing production costs. The company’s innovative methods enable the development of cell-cultured meat alternatives that provide a sustainable and ethical option for consumers seeking to enjoy meat without compromising on taste or texture.

We create healthy and sustainable solutions for the world based on insects. A very nutritive and eco friendly food source. Currently we are using about 50% of the habitable land for agriculture and the livestock industry is the major contributor to CO2 emisions, but In just 30 years the amount of food available will not be enough for the world`s population. By making healthy, and tasty products from insect powder such as flour for bread, cake mix, and even protein shakes, we are able to reduce the amount of livestock usage and also provide a sustainable and scalable solution. Our business model is based on 3 keypoints: >Mass and Standarized Production which is possible using our insect incubator (which is patent pending) >Sustainable and efficient Production since Costa Rica has the perfect weather conditions, >And our Partner Program to provide jobs and income to the poorest sectors of Costa Rican society. Our partner program is supported by BID Lab and Fundecooperación who are helping us deliver the program on a national scale. Costa Rica Insect Company and we Save the World Eating Bugs!

NuCook is a digital health program that teaches healthy cooking and lifestyle tools. It combines the expertise of a chef, dietitian, health coach, and doctor to create recipes and classes in a fun and interactive virtual community.

Proeon Foods develops a range of plant-based proteins for food manufacturers. Proeon provides plant-based protein ingredients to promote clean and healthy food.

FairFlavor develops nutritious vegan alternative dairy food made of a super nut from Indonesia using a patented fermentation technology

Kinoko is growing the next generation of superfoods. We are using the power of fungi and deep-tech fermentation to grow delicious and highly nutritional food in a sustainable way.

FUL Foods is a Netherlands-based startup dedicated to creating food and beverage products that positively impact the environment by reducing carbon emissions and conserving resources. The company has developed a proprietary carbon-negative ingredient derived from microalgae, known as FUL, which addresses challenges related to taste and solubility. FUL Foods offers a range of sustainable and nutritious beverages, with its flagship product being a refreshing drink that combines natural nutrition, plant-based protein, and immune-boosting properties. The company's mission emphasizes superior health benefits, convenience, and overall satisfaction for consumers while promoting a planet-positive approach to food and beverage production.

Tender Food is a food technology startup focused on developing plant-based and cultured meat products. Founded by researchers from Harvard University, the company utilizes novel fiber production technology to transform plant proteins into fibrous structures that closely replicate the texture and mouthfeel of traditional meat. This innovative method aims to create alternative meats that not only match the taste and nutritional value of animal meat but also promote vegan food options. Through its sustainable approach, Tender Food seeks to support meat companies and enhance the consumer experience with realistic and environmentally friendly alternatives.

EatWell equips health insurers with Food is Medicine meal kits that are prescribed to treat food insecurity and reduce healthcare costs in diabetic populations. By complementing food access with hands-on learning, EatWell drives patients' healthy habit formation for sustainable behavior change and lasting impact.

EatWell equips health insurers with Food is Medicine meal kits that are prescribed to treat food insecurity and reduce healthcare costs in diabetic populations. By complementing food access with hands-on learning, EatWell drives patients' healthy habit formation for sustainable behavior change and lasting impact.

GoTeff Superfoods is an agricultural development company focused on supporting teff farmers in Ethiopia. By providing resources and expertise, the company aims to enhance the productivity of these farmers. GoTeff specializes in producing superfoods derived from teff, a highly nutritious grain known for promoting endurance and overall health. Through its initiatives, GoTeff not only helps improve the livelihoods of farmers but also offers customers access to nutrient-rich products that contribute to their well-being.

WA2COOK offers the user to search recipes by ingredients, allergies, filter by nutrition, cuisines, courses, time, and chef blogs. Their customers inquiries are addressed through phone, email, and online applications.

A1C Foods is a diabetes nutrition solutions company, creating delicious foods for diabetes and low carbs communities.

Lighter, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in personalized meal planning and tracking solutions aimed at improving nutritional habits. Founded in 2014 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lighter develops proprietary software that creates customized nutrition programs, including therapeutic diets. This platform facilitates the translation of dietary recommendations into actionable meal plans and tracking tools, and it offers educational resources along with grocery delivery services. Lighter's technology is utilized by a diverse range of healthcare providers, including health systems, dietitians, and physicians, to support patients in making healthier food choices. Additionally, Lighter collaborates with influential figures, such as athletes and thought leaders, through its LighterLabeled initiative, enabling them to promote better eating habits. The company also features a searchable recipe database tailored to various users, including athletes and busy professionals, enhancing accessibility to healthy meal options.

Xilinat manufactures natural sweeteners from xylitol using a natural and environmentally friendly process. Customers will not notice the difference when using Xilinat to sweeten favorite desserts, drinks, and foods. Xilinat aims to reduce health problems associated with excessive sugar consumption while also providing consumers with a healthy and delicious alternative.

VitaScan is a medical device manufacturing company focused on developing portable finger-stick tests for detecting vitamin and micronutrient deficiencies. With an initial emphasis on iron deficiency, which affects approximately one-third of the global population, VitaScan addresses a significant gap in standard healthcare practices where such deficiencies are often overlooked. The company's innovative system provides direct measurements of vitamin levels, allowing individuals to monitor their nutritional status and make informed dietary adjustments. This user-friendly approach enables people to test and track their micronutrient levels conveniently from the comfort of their homes.

IQ Bar, Inc. is a food and beverage company that specializes in producing and selling nutrition bars and hydration mixes. Founded in 2016 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, IQ Bar offers its products in a variety of flavors. The company markets its items through distributors and retailers across the United States, as well as through online platforms.

Canomiks operates a genomics and artificial intelligence-based technology platform that focuses on testing and certifying the biological efficacy and safety of ingredients and formulations. Its services cater to the functional food and beverage, dietary supplement, and skincare industries, allowing companies to develop safe and effective products efficiently. By leveraging omics science, data analytics, machine learning, and bioinformatics, Canomiks streamlines the validation process for product efficacy, ultimately enabling clients to enhance product quality while reducing development time and costs. The company's long-term vision is to actualize the concept of food as medicine.

WarmUp Nutrition specializes in producing high-protein coffee made from organic and nutritious ingredients. The company aims to offer a healthy beverage option that provides an energy boost, ideal for morning routines or pre-workout sessions. Its all-natural coffee is designed to be free from unnecessary sugars, carbohydrates, and fats, allowing consumers to maintain their health and fitness goals while enjoying a flavorful drink.

Rootastes is an innovative workplace lunch service providing delicious, nutritionally-balanced meals, created by our in-house chef and delivered to local offices. Rootastes offers a complete online corporate lunch platform for both group catering and individually packaged meals.

Black Girls Nutrition is a customized online platform designed to empower overweight and obese women. They offer women of color the chance to break the cycle of dieting, lose weight, and connect with other women like themselves. They connect women to inspire healthy eating and help them share experiences with other women, enabling users to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.

Halo Life Science is focused on enhancing human health through innovative nutritional solutions. After three years of research and development, the company has introduced Naturalin™, a patent-pending phytonutrient designed to improve health and wellness in various food and beverage products. Naturalin™ is also available in nutritional supplement forms, making it accessible to a broader audience. The product has been validated for safety and effectiveness by researchers at the Dell Pediatric Research Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. Halo Life Science aims to provide simple, affordable, and effective food and nutritional supplements to support individuals dealing with chronic conditions, illnesses, and obesity, thereby reinforcing their commitment to elevating human potential.

Nutrimedy, Inc. is a company that specializes in telenutrition through its innovative online wellness platform. Founded in 2016 and based in Brookline, Massachusetts, Nutrimedy connects individuals with dietitians nationwide, allowing users to find professionals based on their preferred language and specific dietary needs. Its services include Nutrimedy Core, which links users to dietitians, and nuExpecting, a platform tailored for pregnant individuals. The company focuses on providing personalized nutritional counseling for various health conditions, including diabetes and celiac disease. Additionally, Nutrimedy's B2B solutions partner with healthcare providers and organizations to improve patient access to expert nutrition care, utilizing evidence-based clinical nutrition to enhance health outcomes and address the growing issue of chronic disease.

Girls Health Champions is an innovative, peer-to-peer education model where adolescent girls in India are trained to directly educate their peers about these important health topics, including nutrition, mental health, gender-based violence, menstruation, and reproductive health. Their peer educators ("Champions") are trained in focused curriculum which were created in partnership with leading pediatricians, psychiatrists, obstetricians and gynecologists, educational specialists, and school teachers in both the United States and India.

Griyum specializes in the production and commercialization of edible cricket flour, which is high in protein and offers a low-cost alternative for enhancing the nutritional value of processed foods. Recognizing the health challenges faced by many in Mexico, where a significant portion of the population is at risk of obesity and diabetes, Griyum aims to provide a sustainable solution through its innovative product. The company establishes a value chain that supports micro-producers by supplying them with technology packages to cultivate crickets. Griyum purchases the crickets from these producers, transforms them into flour, and supplies this nutritious ingredient to enhance various food products, thereby promoting healthier eating habits.

Better Juice was founded in 2017 by a team of prestigious food industry professionals: a biochemist and microbiology academician with extensive experience in product development. The company is supported by The Kitchen FoodTech Hub – Strauss Group’s incubator, whose goal is to nourish promising food-tech ventures that can disrupt the global food system – making it more productive, more affordable, more sustainable and healthier. ​ Better Juice gives consumers what they are looking for: simple ways to reduce sugar in their diets. Popular juices such as orange and apple juice have 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of sugar per 1-cup serving (250 ml). Grape juice has up to 14 teaspoons. The Better Juice solution lets industrial juice producers lower or eliminate sugar in one simple step.

Totolines is a company that specializes in producing snacks made from corn flour and grasshoppers, catering to environmentally conscious consumers. The snacks are designed to promote the consumption of insects as a healthy and sustainable protein source, offering the same protein content as a serving of tuna without any additives. By focusing on quality and sustainability, Totolines aims to support local economies while providing nutritious options for customers.

Mixfit is a digital health company that designs nutritional experiences to encourage lasting, positive changes in health behavior. The company leverages nutrition science, artificial intelligence through predictive modeling and machine learning along with digital health technologies in developing its health data platform and smart countertop nutrient delivery device, providing consumers with personalized nutritional drinks and wellness-related insights based on their unique health data. Established in 2015, Mixfit is privately held and headquartered in Boston.

Eat Grub is a UK-based food company focused on promoting sustainable nutrition through the consumption of edible insects. Recognizing the growing global interest in entomophagy, the company aims to revolutionize Western food culture by introducing insects as a viable protein source. Eat Grub offers a variety of insect-based snacks, including roasted crickets, buffalo worms, and grasshoppers, as well as protein powders. By highlighting the environmental and health benefits of insect consumption, Eat Grub provides consumers with alternative food options that are both nutritious and sustainable.

RUSTYS is an Israeli healthy lifestyle bringing mindful snacking to the local market without compromising on taste. RUSTYS Nut Butters & Treats is a local Israeli healthy lifestyle brand giving the local market the ability to eat healthy without having to compromise on taste. They use locally sourced nuts to help promote local agriculture and combine them with organic flavors from around the globe such as Canadian maple syrup to create the most delicious nut butter spreads. Their online presence, community events and recipes they share with their audience help Israelis live healthier more active lives.

JustMilk is a nonprofit organization focused on creating an innovative device that enables safe delivery of life-saving medications and nutrients to breastfeeding infants. This thin, disposable silicone device is designed to hold a dispersible therapeutic tablet, which releases medicine directly into the breast milk consumed by the infant. It is capable of administering a variety of medications, including antibiotics, analgesics, antiretrovirals, and vitamins, without the need for measurement or literacy, addressing potential barriers to proper dosing. The device is hygienic, as it is disposable and does not require refrigeration, making it ideal for low-resource settings as well as broader markets. By facilitating medication delivery during breastfeeding, JustMilk aims to enhance patient compliance and promote breastfeeding, potentially saving lives and improving health outcomes for infants.

Brave Foods specializes in producing plant-based cereals and snacks designed to offer a nutritious and sustainable diet. Their products are crafted from natural ingredients, featuring high levels of protein and fiber, which help regulate sugar release and provide a steady stream of energy. The company's offerings are entirely vegan, catering to health-conscious consumers seeking to maintain fitness and vitality. For inquiries, Brave Foods provides an online inquiry form on their website.

Real Food Solutions is launching a line of food products for everyday discomforts like nausea and heartburn. Their 1st product, Anchor Bar, is a nutrition bar that prevents and relieves nausea including motion sickness and morning sickness. The patent-pending bar was formulated by a Harvard-MD based on scientific research that links protein, ginger, and vitamins to nausea relief. Anchor Bar is a practical solution for nausea – healthy, no side-effects, convenient, and easy to eat. It’s just food.

Chirps is a food company that focuses on introducing edible insect-based snacks to the Western diet as a sustainable alternative to conventional snacks. Their flagship product, Chirps tortilla chips, is made with cricket flour, offering three times the protein and half the fat of traditional potato chips. These snacks are non-GMO and gluten-free, catering to health-conscious consumers. Chirps aims to expand its product line to include more items made from insect protein, positioning itself as a competitive option against traditional meat products such as beef and pork. The company emphasizes the health benefits and sustainability of its offerings, encouraging a shift towards more environmentally friendly snacking choices.

Asulia makes all natural, handcrafted fusion foods. At Asulia, they believe healthy tastes delicious and we're obsessed with sharing their love of vegetables. They have a line fusion vegan dumplings in kale, chickpea, and taro root at Whole Foods, Formaggio Kitchen SE and more. Each retail box of delicious dumplings contains 2-3 servings of superfood veggies with low glycemic index ingredients. Nutrition and education changed our life and it can change many others. A portion of proceeds support girls' education.

Easily makes it easier for busy professionals to live healthier lives with greater work-life balance. They deliver ready-to-cook meal kits with all the ingredients and recipes for a home-cooked meal. They partner with employers to deliver these meal kits directly to their employees at the office, so they can grab them on their way home and cook a tasty dinner without ever having to go to the grocery store. Employers can encourage health and work-life balance by providing this employee perk for free.

88 Acres is an artisan food startup that focuses on creating healthy snack foods free from the top eight food allergens. The company specializes in producing a variety of products, including pumpkin seed butter, protein bars, and seed bars, all made with simple ingredients. These offerings cater to fitness enthusiasts and are designed to be diet-friendly, allowing a diverse range of consumers to enjoy nutritious snacks without the worry of allergens.

Nutrition has been overly simplified to just counting calories. InRFood delivers a true personalized "health and wellness" solution through a mobile app to interpret nutrition beyond calories. Since each person has unique nutritional needs, InRFood uniquely takes into account dietary concerns, along with logging ingredients and macro nutrients in order to come up with an impactful personalized experience. The analysis of your nutrition can then be connected to professionals for additional assessment.

Noor Pharmaceuticals develops and commercializes halal vitamins and innovate and create natural wellness solutions. NoorVitamins™, a division of Noor Pharmaceuticals, which continues to be managed by doctors and scientists, delivers on this promise of Natural Wellness with a complete and innovative line of vitamins and supplements made with natural ingredients that are Pure, Potent, and Proven. Additionally, we are committed to ensuring that our products meet the highest possible FDA, GMP and NSF scientific and manufacturing standards.

Cocamama is a goddess of health and happiness, which basically sums up what they’re about: Energy packed nutrition mingled with pure, authentic fun. They’re putting a modern twist on ancient grains to create foods that snack and cereal lovers will devour.

Naughty Nutritionist is an online platform focused on providing products and content that educate modern consumers about nutrition and wellness. The company offers a range of products, including organic chocolates and nutritionally dense foods like algae, all designed to be convenient for busy Gen X and Gen Y individuals seeking a healthy lifestyle without compromising on enjoyment. Their engaging website and outbound newsletters feature well-edited nutrition content and playful graphics, making the information accessible and appealing. By elevating nutrition into a mainstream, stylish lifestyle choice, Naughty Nutritionist aims to resonate with a community-oriented audience, similar to brands like Daily Candy and Lululemon.

Diagnostics for All offers point-of-care diagnostic devices to patients. Their services include liver function, small farmer support, nucleic acid detection, child nutrition, and immunity. Their health diagnostic process includes human health, livestock and agriculture, and food safety.