Joywell Foods closes $6.9 million Series A financing led by Evolv Ventures

Joywell Foods, a food technology company developing a sweet protein portfolio, has announced the closing of a $6.9 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Evolv Ventures, a venture fund backed by Kraft Heinz. Combined with a previous seed round, this latest round brings the company’s total funding to $13.2 million. Energized by the company’s continued progress in developing its technology platform and processes for commercial scale, both Khosla Ventures and SOSV—who participated in Joywell Foods Seed round—have returned to support the company’s growth, alongside Alumni Ventures Group and other investors.

Previously known as Miraculex, Joywell Foods will use the new capital to build out its proprietary technology platform, broaden its sweet protein portfolio, and expand R&D operations. The company also plans to test several consumer offerings through direct-to-consumer and limited retail.

“Our team is excited to bring sweet proteins to commercial scale with the support of our newest investor, Evolv Ventures,” said Karen Huh, CEO of Joywell Foods. “These funds bring us one step closer to our vision of eliminating the prevalence of sugar in our diet. Sweet proteins—many of which are over 1,000 times sweeter than sugar—can reduce how much sugar we consume in our daily lifestyle.”

In the last 10 months, the company has published a peer-reviewed toxicology study on the miracle berry protein commonly known as miraculin, filed three provisional patent applications, and commercialized a first-to-market protein sweetened concept—the Pop Lolly—a reduced-sugar ice pop product utilizing miraculin as a sweetener.