Better Juice, a low sugar juice company, has raised $8m in seed-round investment. The round was led by iAngels, Israel and included Maverick Ventures, Food Tech Lab TFTL and The Kitchen Hub, part of the Strauss Group, among others. 

The start-up’s enzymatic technology uses natural ingredients to convert fructose, glucose, and sucrose into prebiotic dietary fibres and other non-digestible molecules. Reportedly reducing up to 80% of all sugars, the company’s non-GMO technology is designed to target orange juice’s sugar composition to create a low-calorie, reduced-sugar product with a delicate sweetness. The company opened a pilot plant in January 2021. 

“We strongly believe in Better Juice’s outstanding technology to lead the sugar reduction revolution in natural juices,” said Mor Assia, CEO and founding partner of iAngels. “Better Juice’s know-how and technology is perfectly in-line with our portfolio and vision of future, advanced impact technologies. The company has created exceptional partnerships with leading beverage companies and is paving the way to better-for-you products.” 

The company will use the investment to build its first full-scale manufacturing plant in Israel to serve the growing demand. The plant will increase production capacity by 40-fold while generating up to $50m sales annually, the company hopes. It plans to use the funds to expand the sales and marketing teams, supporting its commercialisation stage. 

“We are excited to complete this investment round with the support of leading venture capital and CPG companies from around the globe,” said Eran Blachinsky, PhD, founder and CEO of Better Juice. “This investment will enable us to accelerate our growth and expand into other product lines, such as ice cream, soft drinks, and jam.” 

“We are very proud of this achievement, which reflects the investors’ trust in our technology,” added Gali Yarom, co-founder, COO, and VP of Business Development for Better Juice. “There is a significant need in the beverage industry to effectively reduce sugar and we anticipate bringing our solution to market in just a few months.”