Sustainable food tech company Hyfé raises $2m in funding

Sustainable food-tech company Hyfé Foods has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by venture firm The Engine. 

Other investors included Blue Horizon, Caffeinated Capital, Supply Change Capital, Lifely, Gaingels, Hack Ventures, among others. 

Founded in 2021, Hyfé uses wasted sugar water from food and beverage manufacturers as feedstock to produce mycelium flour for a variety of food applications. The Chicago-based company has developed a carbon-neutral method to produce “affordable, high protein, low-carb and allergen-free flour products”.

According to the company, the technology conserves water and improves global food access. 

Hyfé will use the investment to up-scale the commercialisation of its products. 

Michelle Ruiz, co-founder and CEO, commented: “A bowl of Hyfé pasta has as much protein as a chicken breast, is high in fibre and has no refined carbs. We’re on a mission to make food better for you as well as better for the planet.”

She continued: “Hyfé’s mycelium flour tastes and acts just like wheat flour, enabling people to eat the foods they love without negative health impacts. We are leveraging biotechnology to produce this ingredient that is carbon neutral, at scale and at a very low cost”.