For many, plant-based proteins leave a bad taste in the mouth:
bitter and “beany,” according to Vanessa Small. At her food tech
startup Alcheme Bio, she
strips that tart taste at the cellular level to enhance
flavoring.
The startup was chosen as part of the 2025 cohort at FourthWave,
a Sacramento-based accelerator for women-led tech businesses.
“This is a company positioned not just to disrupt what’s possible
in food ingredients, but to do so with a path to real commercial
success,” says Cheryl Beninga, co-founder of FourthWave. “Their
technology has the potential to redefine ingredient supply chains
while improving public health.”
A biochemist by training, Small began in the pharma space, doing
drug discovery and screening. After shifting to health care
diagnostics, she made and commercialized enzymes and proteins for
various applications, from pregnancy tests to COVID diagnostics.
As an entrepreneur, Small saw the opportunity to use these same
skills to help solve the problem of sustainable food
production.
Alcheme Bio’s initial flagship product, Nutralase, is an enzyme
blend that removes bitterness and “beaniness” notes to create a
neutral flavor profile. She then sells this enzyme blend to
companies to make tastier and better-performing drinks, patties
and other products.
“Most companies target any flavor issues with masking ingredients
or additives to address any off-notes or flavors that they don’t
want,” Small says.
A lot of vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians (which Small
considers herself) just had to put up with it. Alcheme Bio aims
to change that.
“We developed an approach called cellular flavoring,” Small says.
“Instead of masking, the team is using biochemistry to remove any
off-notes at the source.”
The startup, which has labs in San Diego and a team of five
throughout the country, is currently raising a $2 million seed
round to support a commercial launch over the next 24 months. How
Women Invest, which has three venture funds, chose to back
Alcheme Bio for two key reasons.
First, Small has the education and experience levels that make
her stand out, says Carmen Palafox, a venture partner at How
Women Invest.
“From a technical standpoint, Vanessa is a founder you want to
back,” Palafox says. “She’s also worked at a company that has had
an exit, so she knows the drill.”
Second, her startup is tackling a major problem, and current
market conditions make it especially appealing. Over the past
decade, a lot of capital has flowed into companies developing the
next generation of the food system, driven by the fact that
“traditional agriculture simply cannot sustain our population,”
Palafox says.
“We need to branch out,” she adds. “The problem in this segment
is that, in many cases, the taste and texture aren’t there yet.
We see Alcheme Bio as enablement technology for the industry to
really blossom.”
Through innovation, the startup alters off-notes at the source,
and Small believes Alcheme Bio has the potential to alter food
production on a larger scale.
“I personally believe that our food system is ripe for
disruption, and sustainable foods are the future, from
alternative proteins to plant-based proteins to cultivated meat,”
Small says. “I do think we’ll improve our food supply, and we’ll
be able to provide for generations to come. And I wanted to be a
part of that.”
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