### Duckweed: A Natural Ingredient for Food Technology Innovation

Duckweed offers a natural solution to unhealthy food ingredients through scalable Rubisco production.

### Duckweed: A Sustainable Solution for the Food Industry
* 💧 Duckweed, also known as water lentils, is being explored as a **natural alternative to unhealthy ingredients** in the food industry.
* 🌱 The company Plantbottle is focused on **reversing the trend of synthetic ingredients** by utilizing Rubisco, a protein found in leafy greens and **one of the most abundant proteins on Earth**.
* 💰 To meet growing commercial demand, the company requires **$30 million** to expand its manufacturing operations in West Texas.
* 🍽 Products containing duckweed are already available on the market, allowing consumers to **experience its benefits now**.
* 🔍 The firm is currently collaborating with the FDA to finalize approvals and aims to **secure endorsement from the European Food Safety Authority by 2025 or early 2026**.
* 📈 Despite challenges in raising capital for food tech, the company has demonstrated **consistent progress and market fit**, attracting both financial and strategic investors.
* 🌮 Chipotle is among the strategic partners interested in the company, as they seek to **enhance their recipes with clean-label ingredients** without introducing **allergens or food safety risks**.

Harvesting Plant-Based Proteins

Welcome to the Bloomberg Technology YouTube channel. Subscribe for original series and mini-docs on game-changing technologies, profiles on innovators, live conversations with experts, and breaking technology news & analysis from Bloomberg TV.

Bloomberg Technology

Introduction to Plantbottle and its use of duckweed (water lentils) to produce Rubisco.

Plantbottle uses duckweed, also known as water lentils, to create a sustainable and healthy food ingredient.

The company aims to replace synthetic, unhealthy, or allergenic ingredients in the food industry.

They utilize Rubisco, a highly abundant protein found in leafy greens, as a key ingredient.

Duckweed is chosen for its cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness in Rubisco production.

Current production, expansion plans, and market demand.

Plantbottle has a commercial manufacturing module in West Texas but needs to expand to meet demand.

A $30 million investment is sought to increase manufacturing capacity and fulfill market demand.

The product is currently available in some market products.

Regulatory approvals and market challenges.

Plantbottle is working with the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority for regulatory approvals.

Raising capital in the food tech/AgTech sector is described as challenging.

The company is focusing on hitting milestones to demonstrate product-market fit and discover new opportunities.

Investors are interested due to the de-risking of technology and market risk, focusing now on operational risk.

Chipotle's partnership is highlighted as a strategic move, not solely financial.

The partnership with Chipotle allows them to create healthier, cleaner-label foods without introducing allergens.