REHOVOT, ISRAEL — Better Juice, Ltd., a beverage technology startup focused on reducing sugars in natural juices, raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by iAngels, with participation from Maverick Ventures, Food Tech Lab TFTL, The Kitchen Hub, NEOME, Schestowitz Group and Semillero.

Founded in 2018, Better Juice’s enzymatic technology uses natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose and sucrose into prebiotic dietary fibers and other non-digestible molecules. The technology targets orange juice’s specific sugar composition to create a low-calorie product with up to 80% less sugar.

Better Juice opened a pilot plant earlier this year and will use funds from the seed round to build its first full-scale manufacturing plant in Israel. The plant will increase production capacity 40-fold while generating as much as $50 million in sales annually, according to the company. Funds also will go toward expanding Better Juice’s sales and marketing teams to support its commercialization stage.

“We are very proud of this achievement, which reflects the investors’ trust in our technology,” said Gali Yarom, co-founder, chief operating officer and vice president of business development at Better Juice. “There is a significant need in the beverage industry to effectively reduce sugar and we anticipate bringing our solution to market in just a few months.”

The startup also will use the investment to begin expanding into other product lines, including ice cream, soft drinks and jam, added Eran Blachinsky, PhD, founder and chief executive officer.