July 13, 2015

Biotech startup, Clara Foods has secured $1.7 million in funding from David Friedberg, Gary Hirshberg, Ali and Hadi Partovi, Scott Banister, and SOS Ventures to seed the development of egg whites from genetically modified yeast instead of chickens.

Founded by Arturo Elizondo, David Anchel, and Isha Datar, Clara Foods has been working in a laboratory within the biotech accelerator, IndieBio, to create a genetically identical egg white liquid from a proprietary source of manipulated yeast.

Egg white production is a time and capital intense process involving raising chickens, procuring eggs, and then separating the egg whites from the yolks. If Clara Foods is successful at scaling up their production, it could be an attractive alternative ingredient source to companies producing pasta, condiments, confectionary products, and protein powder brands that use egg whites.

“Our goal is to be in the B2B space as an ingredient since egg whites are used in large proportions in meat substitutes, baked goods like meringues, macarons, angel food cakes, confectionaries, and protein powders and supplements,” Elizondotold TechCrunch.

The alternative yeast-based egg whites would also eliminate the risks associated with traditional egg white production including avian flu and salmonella, and would also quell animal welfare concerns, while maintaining the egg white’s taste and nutritional value. U.S. egg production is currently down by more than 10% due to the loss of layers to avian flu, causing egg prices to climb more than 70% in some regions since April. A yeast-based egg white would remove the price and availability volatility that inevitably result from such events.

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