Shiru Secures $16M in Funding to Accelerate AI-Driven Ingredient Discovery

Berkeley-based startup Shiru is focused on the discovery of AI-powered ingredients. The company has secured a total $16 million in funding that will aid its growth acceleration and expansion into new products. Leading the Series A round is S2G Ventures, with investments in place from such investors as CPT Capital, Lux Capital, Nourish Ventures, and Meach Cove Capital.

The funds are meant to be utilized by the company to expand its portfolio of ingredients, further develop its platform through new commercial partnerships and increased offerings. Shiru is a visionary company working to transform how people discover natural ingredients using AI technology, serving food, personal care, agriculture, and advanced materials industries in finding alternative sustainable and functional substitutes for environmentally harming compounds.

Shiru was founded in 2019 by CEO Jasmin Hume. The company develops ProteinDiscovery.ai, an AI platform that hosts a comprehensive database of natural proteins from plants and microbes. Through this platform, corporate partners can rapidly identify, test, and integrate highly functional ingredients into their products. This approach means that Shiru’s AI-based technology provides a faster and more efficient pathway to ingredient discovery compared with traditional approaches. The company thus helps firms face critical challenges such as sustainability and the availability of high-performance materials.

Since its founding, Shiru has been focused on finding creative solutions for some of the world’s most intractable problems, ranging from food and personal care to healthcare and agriculture. Shiru is identifying natural proteins that work better than synthetic or environmentally degrading agents and are changing consumer products for a more sustainable, responsible future.

According to Hume, “Our unique technology, strong customer relationships, and world-class team have made us a trusted partner for leading global brands.” “From our inception in 2019, we have developed a strong pipeline for disruptive, game-changing solutions across multiple industries—and we are just getting started,” Hume added.

The ability to discover and scale natural, high-performance ingredients has driven Shiru into partnerships with some of the world’s most influential consumer products companies. This funding will support further expansion of its ingredient portfolio and commercial partnership builds, such that growing demand is met.

The mission of Shiru will be continued in changing the culture of traditional ingredient discovery, creation, and production into a full and dedicated team of food scientists, technologists, and business experts. Uniquely, the firm is poised to become the leader in this category of sustainable discovery of ingredient change, the way to which ingredients are sourced in the future by industries.

Shiru has shown tremendous growth in its rapid ascent while embracing the ethos of sustainability. Do watch out for this company in the fields of AI and ingredient innovation.