Startups
Spira is a food technology company creating plant-based ingredients from spirulina microalgae. Our flagship product is Electric Sky - a healthy blue pigment that is the first to effectively replace artificial Blue #1 from the packaged food industry.
At Spira, we combine the best of biotechnology, food science and agriculture to reimagine the way humans eat and live.
Through our patented processes, we’re c...reating smarter ingredients from spirulina microalgae - a sustainable food source that's both good for you, and with its carbon neutral effects, even better for the planet.
Our first flagship product is changing the way blue foods are colored. As a rare and natural blue pigment, Electric Sky is the only FDA-approved product to replace Artificial Blue #1, a market need as consumers become aware of the harmful effects of artificial colors on our health.
Feeding 10B people starts with the opportunities the market holds right now. From alternative ingredients to colors, and superfoods to plant-proteins, spirulina can produce it all. Our product is revolutionizing how businesses color food by replacing artificial ingredients.
From there we'll shift to providing a novel plant protein. The food industry is relentlessly looking for better ingredients and new plant-proteins - we have it. Using significantly less water, nutrients and energy than another other food in the market, ingredients like spirulina protein is a no-brainer.. See More
At Spira, we combine the best of biotechnology, food science and agriculture to reimagine the way humans eat and live.
Through our patented processes, we’re c...reating smarter ingredients from spirulina microalgae - a sustainable food source that's both good for you, and with its carbon neutral effects, even better for the planet.
Our first flagship product is changing the way blue foods are colored. As a rare and natural blue pigment, Electric Sky is the only FDA-approved product to replace Artificial Blue #1, a market need as consumers become aware of the harmful effects of artificial colors on our health.
Feeding 10B people starts with the opportunities the market holds right now. From alternative ingredients to colors, and superfoods to plant-proteins, spirulina can produce it all. Our product is revolutionizing how businesses color food by replacing artificial ingredients.
From there we'll shift to providing a novel plant protein. The food industry is relentlessly looking for better ingredients and new plant-proteins - we have it. Using significantly less water, nutrients and energy than another other food in the market, ingredients like spirulina protein is a no-brainer.. See More
Overview
Location
United States, California, Long Beach
Founded date
2016
Investors 6
| Date | Name | Website |
| Sign up to see | Sign up to see | Sign up to see |
| Onedrop Ventures | onedrop.ventures | |
| MarsBio | marsbio.vc | |
| Cool Climate Collective | coolclimatecollective.com | |
| 1517 Fund | 1517fund.com | |
| Jan 6, 2022 | Grid110 | grid110.org |
Mentions in press and media 9
| Date | Title | Description |
| Sign up to see | Sign up to see | Sign up to see |
| Nov 29, 2021 | Startup Uses Genetically-Engineered Algae To Create Pigments, Protein And More | Biomedical engineer Elliot Roth’s long-time entrepreneurial passion has been to find environmentally friendly ways to address people’s basic needs. Five years ago, that mission led him to found Spira, an LA-based startup that uses an algae ... |
| Jan 26, 2021 | The Biden-Harris FDA should make friends with independent researchers | Support for open science — accessible, collaborative, and radically transparent research done outside of traditional science venues — has been growing. During the Covid-19 pandemic, you might even say it is having a moment. Networks of amat... |
| Sep 28, 2020 | Alt Protein conference highlights: ‘We’ll see more change in the next 10 years than we’ve seen in the last 10,000’ | The report's apocalyptic predictions “seemed outlandish,” when it first came out, said Ryan Bethencourt, co-founder of petfood brand Wild Earth, partner at Babel Ventures and co-founder at IndieBio, a biology accelerator and early stage ... |
| Jun 16, 2020 | The Invisible College: $50k Investments | Updated August 26, 2020: We have had a major interest in the Invisible College and are so thrilled to see so many people supporting the idea that college is not the only path, especially in this time of Zoom school. As we've heard hundred... |
| Nov 5, 2019 | WATCH: ‘We want Spira to be the Willy Wonka of algae…’ | The brainchild of algae enthusiast and synthetic biologist Elliot Roth, who started growing his own blue/green algae four years ago, Spira has recently moved to Los Angeles to set up a pilot production facility to process spirulina grown ... |
| Sep 20, 2019 | LocalCoho, Tia Lupita Foods, and Capro-X take top prizes at FoodBytes! Chicago 2019 | The three winners were among 15 startups who each had three minutes to pitch on stage before a panel of judges on Thursday after a day and a half of meetings with industry experts helping them to hone their pitches, gain direct feedback on ... |
| Jul 31, 2019 | Rabobank unveils 15 food & ag startups that will pitch at FoodBytes! Chicago | The 15 selected pitch companies – chosen from more than 100 applicants spanning 18 countries - have been assigned to two judging categories: Consumer packaged goods, and Food and Ag Tech, but are all eligible to receive the People’s Choice ... |
| Jul 31, 2019 | 15 next generation agri-food startups set to pitch at FoodBytes! Chicago | Functional foods, alternative proteins, digital and bio-farmtech all feature in the list of next-generation agri-food startups set to pitch at the inaugural FoodBytes! Chicago in September. FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a pitch competition and ... |
Reviews 0
FAQ about Spira
When was Spira founded?
Spira was founded in 2016.
Who has invested in Spira?
Parsers VC lists 6 investors of Spira, among them Grid110, Onedrop Ventures and MarsBio.
What has the press written about Spira?
Parsers VC has collected 9 articles mentioning Spira, among them “Startup Uses Genetically-Engineered Algae To Create Pigments, Protein And More” (Nov 29, 2021) and “The Biden-Harris FDA should make friends with independent researchers” (Jan 26, 2021).
Is Spira still active?
Yes, Spira is active; its latest activity on Parsers VC dates from Jul 5, 2022.