Exclusive: Nestlé-backed alt meat startup Sundial Foods closes down, sells IP
Sundial Foods —a California-based startup behind a novel protein-structuring technique for meat alternatives —has closed down, but divested its IP to an undisclosed large food firm based in Europe.
The business—listed as ‘ deadpooled ’ on marketplace intelligence platform Tracxn—filed a certificate of surrender (a document filed to dissolve a corporation) with the Secretary of State in California on December 19, 2024. Founded in 2019 by Jessica Schwabach (CEO) and Dr.
Berkeley’s Alternative Meats program, Sundial Foods took part in the Nestle R&D Accelerator program in 2020, and secured funding from the food giant as part of a $4 million seed round in November 2021 . The company—which secured a $5,000 grant from Delaware’s fourth Startup302 competition last spring—generated some buzz in 2022 with the launch of its plant-based chicken wings in select restaurants in New York and San Francisco.
The wings, made from a short list of components including chickpeas, sunflower oil, and nutritional yeast, featured crispy edible “skin” made from a protein-lipid film to lock in moisture. Going to CEO Jessica Schwabach, : “Our journey as Sundial Foods is over, but our IP has found a new home.
- Who: Sundial Foods
- Money: $4 million · $5,000
- Figures: 4 million