Exclusive: 2nd Nature, Kalsec Team Up to Discover Waste-Derived Natural Ingredients with AI
Ahead of a new funding round, US startup 2nd Nature has partnered with natural food and drink company Kalsec to discover waste-derived functional ingredients using its AI platform.
Ohio-based firm 2nd Nature is broadening the footprint of its artificial-intelligence-led (AI) ingredient discovery platform through a partnership with natural food and drink producer Kalsec.
The companies will together evaluate areas of potential mutual interest in natural ingredient discovery and sourcing through the former’s AgWaste Portal, which maps the molecular makeup of agricultural and food processing sidestreams to identify “hidden” small molecules, fibres, peptides, proteins, and enzymes.
The collaboration will leverage this AI tech and Kalsec’s market and technical expertise to identify naturally sourced ingredient opportunities with relevant functional and commercial potential.
“We are continually looking at new ways to expand our understanding of naturally sourced ingredients and the opportunities they may create for our customers,” says Roger Nahas, executive VP of global R&D and chief innovation officer at Kalsec.
“2nd Nature brings an interesting discovery platform and perspective. We look forward to exploring where our capabilities may align and what we can learn together.”
Why consumers are hungry for natural foods
2nd Nature employs a three-step process that blends AI-powered discovery with hardware to streamline ingredient production. The first phase, Discover, uncovers functional ingredient opportunities in sidestreams. This is followed by Develop, through which the startup creates scalable, cost-effective processes to produce target ingredients.
The final stage, Deploy, provides manufacturers with a de-risked, resilient supply of upcycled ingredients sourced from their own sidestreams, helping them reduce waste, generate additional income streams, and support food sustainability.
“We look for hidden compounds in agricultural, fermentation and dairy side streams. And we work across food and beverage, home and personal care, and wellness,” 2nd Nature co-founder and CEO Effendi Leonard tells Green Queen.
“We start with the function a manufacturer needs. Those needs span reducing sugar or sodium, adding fibre, and replacing a synthetic ingredient with a naturally sourced alternative. Today, that means a no-calorie sweetener and a non-sodium umami ingredient, both available for commercial sampling, and an enzyme that converts sugar into fibre, as well as an enzyme for skin defence, which are in development.”
Kalsec has been supplying natural colours, flavours and food protection ingredients globally since 1958, and the new collaboration reflects its interest in evaluating new approaches, technologies and partnerships that could support future natural ingredient innovation.
Demand for natural ingredients has skyrocketed amid the backlash against ultra-processed foods (UPFs). In the US, for instance, a quarter of consumers associate non-UPFs with natural ingredients. In fact, 82% of shoppers believe the fewer artificial or unfamiliar ingredients a food has, the healthier it is, while 69% check labels to avoid highly processed ingredients, and 80% prefer familiar ingredients over artificial additives.
“Four pressures are landing on the same product at once: shoppers read labels and ask for cleaner ingredients; regulators are pressing on sugar and sodium; people on GLP-1 medications want healthier snacks; and the formulator is asked to do more with the same ingredient list,” says Leonard.
“Naturally sourced ingredients are one way to meet the market, but natural doesn’t excuse an ingredient from the basics. It still has to perform, be reliably supplied, and cost something a manufacturer can say yes to.”
2nd Nature targets $6-8M funding round
The partnership with Kalsec comes months after 2nd Nature teamed up with Japanese trading giant Kanematsu Corporation to explore how underutilised byproducts from its existing operations could potentially be utilised more sustainably, instead of being discarded.
“It’s ongoing,” Leonard says of the Kanematsu collaboration “We bring the discovery platform and the science team; they bring side streams to study. We are in discussions to evaluate the next side stream to be analysed.”
2nd Nature is one of several companies using AI for ingredient discovery for future foods, including Chile’s NotCo and fellow US startup Shiru. However, there are loads of climate questions looming over the tech, which research suggests is likely to increase energy use and fuel climate disinformation. A recent UN report argues that AI’s actual climate impact doesn’t account for inference, or the use of models to answer everyday prompts.
“It’s a legitimate concern for the industry. For us, AI is a tool. The business is ingredients and the processes behind them. The platform runs analysis and prediction on the chemistry of side streams, as well as its production process,” says Leonard.
“The reason to use it is to shorten the years of lab and pilot work that ingredient discovery usually takes. I’m not going to claim a climate benefit we haven’t measured.”
He adds that the company will share regulatory milestones as they’re achieved, with 2nd Nature already working with partners to jointly establish launch timelines to deliver ingredients that meet quality and cost specifications.
The three-year-old startup is now kicking off a fundraising campaign to support its growing consumer base. “We have great engagement,” says Leonard. “We don’t have a specific target timeline to close it – it is on a rolling basis. We are targeting $6-8M, which will be used for commercial expansion and improvement of our AI and hardware technologies.”