Biotechnology company TurtleTree, which makes an animal-free powerful nutrient usually found in mammal milk, has secured its first commercial customer — an endurance-sports supplement company.
Madison, Wisconsin-based Cadence Cold Brew will make an espresso-shot beverage that features TurtleTree’s animal-free lactoferrin powder, which it calls LF+.
"With this partnership in place we are validating that there is a need for lactoferrin to be more accessible within the global supply chain for audiences other than infants and that we as an organization now have the means to begin filling those gaps," said TurtleTree CEO Fengru Lin, in a news release.
TurtleTree, which is based in Singapore, has its research and development labs in Woodland at the Lab@AgStart. The company has 45 employees, 80% of whom are in California, said spokeswoman Sofia Spieler. The company is pre-revenue, she said.
TurtleTree moved to Yolo County to be close to the research and expertise at the University of California Davis.
Cadence Cold Brew will put TurtleTree’s LF+ into a product called Cadence Performance Coffee, targeted at endurance athletes, Spieler said.
TurtleTree’s technology of precision fermentation allows it to get yeast to grow the lactoferrin most commonly found in bovine milk but in a sustainable way. The LF+ product is vegan and delivered as a powder.
Lactoferrin helps the body naturally bind iron, which improves red blood cell production and circulation. That iron binding also supports immune function and helps maintain gut health, the company said.
For the sports coffee shot, the lactoferrin adds another dimension because caffeine tends to reduce iron absorption from the diet.
TurtleTree was founded in 2019 by technology entrepreneurs Lin and Max Rye. In the summer of 2021, it opened its Yolo County office at the Lab@AgStart. In November of 2021, it raised $30 million from investors led by Luxembourg-based Verso Capital.
Several years ago, TurtleTree said it would open a 24,000-square-foot manufacturing and R&D facility in West Sacramento. That has not yet happened. The company is now using a contract manufacturer to produce its product, Spieler said. TurtleTree’s LF+ has a vegan certification from Vegan Action.
TurtleTree said more than 60% of the world's global supply of lactoferrin is channeled to infant nutrition. In addition to being animal free, TurtleTree’s goal is to create a sustainable supply. Co-founder Lin had worked in cheesemaking, and she deplored the harsh environments dairy cows live in, Spieler said.
TurtleTree is one of three foreign companies that chose the Lab@AgStart as a location for their U.S. beachheads, said John Selep, president of the AgTech Innovation Alliance, the nonprofit sponsor of the Lab@AgStart business incubator. “That was never our intent, but it has been working.”
The Lab@AgStart opened in 2021 in 5,000 square feet of space in an office complex at 1100 Main St. in downtown Woodland. In January 2022, it opened an 8,000-square-foot expansion.
