Tyson Ventures has chosen Minneapolis-based Netzro as one of four startups out of its annual Tyson Demo Day pitch event.
The event revolved around upcycling, and Netzro’s technology offers back-end solutions to capture and convert food byproducts into new upcycled ingredients. The spotlight has provided some momentum for Netzro as it raises series A funds and will also connect the startup with mentorship and partnership opportunities as it looks to scale.
“This is really a turning point for Netzro,” said co-founder and CEO Sue Marshall. “We have customers engaged to buy the equipment and the technology. We know what the power of the data can do. And now we just need the funding, and it'll go fast.”
Marshall is also on the board of directors of the Upcycled Food Association and said the opportunity is a “game changer” for the food upcycling industry throughout the country.
Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods Inc., hosted Demo Days to scout and support solutions for sustainable food systems. Out of hundreds of applicants worldwide, only four were chosen for the Demo Day residency.
Netzro’s technology works by mimicking the process of waves crashing on a beach and rolling shells and sand over each other under direct sunlight. A similar process using an infrared heating process can do things like separate an eggshell from its membrane, each of which would be used for different food products. The process works similarly for grains, like barley and corn, Marshall said.
The company also tracks data and is looking to create software that analyzes the impact of each byproduct.
The startup was born out of the University of St. Thomas in 2015. Marshall said she had a prototype built in the first two years and grew its space a couple times before nabbing a sponsorship from Minneapolis-based Utepils Brewing in 2017. Netzro scaled up in 2020 when it was sponsored by Tattersall Distilling.
This is the first year the company is selling commercially certified equipment, and Marshall is keeping her eyes to the future as she looks to continue scaling up and finding efficiencies to lower costs.
