BOSTON — Ingredient innovation and food technology company Motif Ingredients announced it has received $27.5 million in funding led by growth equity firm General Atlantic, with participation from CPT Capital. The company also announced a new brand identity and name, Motif FoodWorks, as well as several new leadership appointments.
Motif uses biotechnology to recreate proteins from dairy, eggs and meat for use in animal-based product alternatives. It said it will use the funding to accelerate its product pipeline, expand collaborations across several molecular food science disciplines, scale its staff and improve R.&D. efforts.
The new brand identity was created to reflect the company’s partnership with Ginko Bioworks. Motif was created in February when it spun off from the bioengineering platform. Today, Ginko BioWorks provides technology to help power the company’s efforts.
Motif also is expanding its executive and business development teams. Janet Collins is joining the company as head of regulatory, government and industry affairs. Julie Post-Smith is joining as director of business development. She is joined by Morgan Keim, who has been named business development manager.
Ms. Collins has more than 30 years of food and biotechnology regulation experience. She previously led agricultural advocacy and regulatory affairs at CropLife America, where she was executive vice-president, and the Institute of Food Technologists, where she was president for five years. She also led regulatory affairs at several companies, including Monsanto, DuPont and Solae.
Prior to joining to Motif, Ms. Post-Smith was senior business director of food service at Kerry. In her new role, she will be tasked with overseeing the company’s go-to-market strategy. She will work closely with Mr. Keim, who was the founder and chief executive officer of Sprouted Ventures, a market strategy firm focus on tech-enabled, plant-based meat and dairy start-ups.
These announcements follow the addition of Michele Fite as chief commercial officer, as well as the company’s partnership with Mista, a new accelerator and incubator program from Givaudan.
“The momentum at Motif is palpable, and we have an exciting road ahead,” said Jon McIntyre, c.e.o. at Motif FoddWorks. “Powered with funds, technology and a team of incredibly talented food-lovers, we are moving closer to our mission to develop animal-free and plant-based ingredients that are more nutritious, more accessible and more sustainable for our planet.”