What’s cooking?: Israeli celebrity chef invests in foodtech startup GreenOnyx
Ruti Broudo, co-founder of R2M hospitality and restaurant group, participated in a $10 million fundraising round for GreenOnyx, the Israeli foodtech company which specializes in growing the Wolffia superfood
Restaurateur Ruti Broudo is investing in the foodtech industry for the first time. The R2M restaurant group she owns is participating in the fundraising round of startup GreenOnyx, with an investment of millions of shekels, Calcalist has learned.
For about a decade, the company has been developing a technological method of growing a tiny aquatic plant that is considered a superfood in special compact greenhouses that can be placed in dense cities and marketed near the place of consumption. At this stage the product is not sold to consumers, but in the Broudo group of restaurants they are conducting pilots of combining it in several dishes and plan to sell it in its raw form in the delicatessen branches.
GreenOnyx’s aquatic plant is called Wolffia and has nutritional values similar to spinach leaves. The company has developed a technology that enables the consumption of the plant in its fresh form, without processing, drying or freezing. In its fresh form it is almost tasteless and looks like tiny balls - which allows it to be incorporated into a wide variety of dishes. It has a high content of iron, zinc, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin K and omega 3, so it should allow those who do not meet the recommended consumption percentages of green vegetables to consume a large portion of them as part of a changing menu, since, as mentioned, the water plant easily adapts itself to different foods.
Despite the great success of the R2M group restaurants, which include, among others, the Coffee Bar, Herzl 16, the Bakery, the Delicatessen, and more, to date Broudo has not invested in external ventures. The group believes that this is an economic venture with environmental and health value that will "prove itself to be beneficial for future generations".
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Broudo is joining the Granot group in its investment in the company, with the round to total approximately $10 million. So far, the company, which has been operating for about a decade, has raised about $30 million and registered 12 patents. Its main goal is to launch a first product in limited marketing channels already at the end of this year, under the name Wanna Greens.
The founder of the company is Dr. Tsipi Shoham, who has been involved in cancer research for two decades, including at the Weizmann Institute.
