The Pitch! Perfect: Allergen-Free Nut Company Wins Startup Competition

Nurtured Nuts, a startup that uses CRISPR technology to create peanuts that are free of the proteins that can kick off a potentially deadly allergic reaction, won the $10,000 grand prize in The Pitch! competition finale held at the IFT FIRST Annual Event and Expo.

The company was one of six startups that took the stage at IFT FIRST to compete in the pitch competition’s final round, which featured five-minute pitches from the companies—finalists of a larger virtual process—and a question-and-answer session with members of the six-person panel of judges.

“My team and I asked, ‘What if we looked at the peanut itself, starting right at the seed?’ And we answered the question, ‘How can we bring peanuts back?’” said Bryant Williams, founder and CEO of Nurtured Nuts, in his pitch. “This is a great business, but really, this is history.”

The company’s first crop of modified peanuts is being grown now in Georgia, Williams said.

The grand prize, as well as two $2,500 prizes for the competition’s runners-up, were provided courtesy of the Seeding The Future Foundation, which works to accelerate high-impact innovations to improve food systems globally by investing in a variety of programs and partnerships.

“I would like to thank you for your ideas, for your tenacity, for the day-in-and-day-out work to try to make the world a better place for food,” said Bernhard van Lengerich, founder and CEO of the Seeding The Future Foundation, in remarks made during the competition.

“The vision of our foundation is a food system that always provides access to safe and nutritious food for everyone, food that is affordable, appealing, and trusted for the health of people and planet,” van Lengerich said. “And our mission is to support innovations like yours, turning our vision into reality.”

Nurtured Nuts also garnered four hours of growth strategy ideation sessions from sponsor Nextin Research by MarketPlace, to help build a foundation for future expansion in the market for peanuts in all their forms.

The judges chose BioBlends, a company that develops gas-based bio-preservation solutions that extend the shelf life of food products, and Forever Harvest, which develops plant cell lines and growth media for custom fruit and nut ingredients, as runners-up. In addition to the cash awards, each of the runners-up earned two hours of consulting expertise from Nextin Research.

Other finalists in The Pitch! finale were Fermenstation, which turns food sidestreams into high-value ingredients; Liquid Orchard, which is building a proprietary high-pressure jet processing platform that transforms whole produce into beverages; and Symbio Bioculinary, which collaborates with food producers to upcycle food waste into finished products.

All six companies were part of the sold-out Startup Pavilion at IFT FIRST, which featured 100 promising food and food technology startups from around the globe.

Explore IFT FIRST Coverage

Discover the latest reporting, interviews, and expert insights.

Read Now