Heritage Group subsidiary HG Ventures has announced a $2.5m seed round investment in Renewal Mill, a food ingredients company that develops sustainable solutions for production and manufacturing waste in the food technology industry.
Renewal Mill will use the funding to increase production and expand into new markets. HG Ventures managing director Kip Frey will join Renewal Mill’s board of directors.
Besides providing a comprehensive solution to production waste, Renewal Mill has developed technology that returns nutrition to the supply chain and reclaims nutritionally valuable by-products.
Food companies can use these reclaimed ingredients to meet the demands for healthier food, cleaner labels and increased transparency.
Renewal Mill CEO Claire Schlemme said: “We created Renewal Mill to provide large-scale food manufacturers with a sustainable, scalable and reliable solution for their production waste.
“Renewal Mill is proud to partner with HG Ventures as they have the expertise and experience to help us expand our current operations and product offerings.”
In 2018, the company secured a joint research and development project with Cargill after receiving an equity investment from Techstar’s Farm to Fork Accelerator. The company was named a ‘World Changing Idea’ by Fast Company in 2019.
The Heritage Group executive vice-president Kip Frey said: “Renewal Mill is at the forefront of providing innovative and widely available enhancements to the food production value chain.
“We look forward to supporting the company’s efforts in pursuit of a more sustainable and healthful food production ecosystem.”
Renewal Mill’s initial ingredient is okara flour, a superfood harvested from soybean pulp leftover during soy milk and tofu production.
