Cocoa tech company receives Mondelēz seed financing

Celleste Bio closes $4.5M seed round to scale production of cell-cultured cocoa.

Celleste Bio, an early-stage cocoa-tech company, announced today the closing of a $4.5M seed financing round led by Supply Change Capital, with participation from Mondelēz International’s SnackFutures Ventures, Consensus Business Group, The Trendlines Group, Barrel Ventures and Regba Agriculture. Celleste will use the funding to accelerate R&D, infrastructure, and technological capabilities needed to pilot and scale production of its cell-cultured cocoa ingredients.

Celleste was founded in 2022 to meet the world’s rising demand for chocolate in the face of supply chain challenges created by climate change and outdated, conventional farming practices. Celleste uses a combination of AgTech, BioTech and AI computational models to grow 100% natural cocoa from one or two beans in optimal, controlled conditions, year-round.

“Climate change and conventional farming practices are depleting our rainforests, resulting in unprecedented environmental and financial challenges to grow enough cocoa to meet the needs of a $100B—and growing—chocolate industry,” says Michal Beressi Golomb, CEO of Celleste Bio. “This round provides us with the financial and strategic support we need to accelerate product development, scalability and commercial readiness.”

Supply Change Capital, an early-stage firm investing in technology to transform the food system, led the round.

“Climate change is significantly impacting cocoa supplies, with prices reaching four times their historic highs this year, underscoring the urgent need for sustainable solutions,” says Shayna Harris, co-founder and managing partner at Supply Change Capital. "As the chocolate industry grows over 10% annually, the supply-demand gap is widening. We see this as a pivotal moment for advancements in cellular agriculture and are proud to support Celleste as it leads the way in pioneering innovative, sustainable cocoa solutions.”

Mondelēz International’s SnackFutures Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of snack purveyor Mondelēz International, also invested in the round.

“As one of the world’s largest chocolate producers, we are acutely aware of the supply chain challenges we need to overcome to produce our iconic chocolate brands like Milka, Cadbury, and Toblerone while also having a positive impact on our business, consumers and the environment,” says Richie Gray, VP, global head of Mondelēz International’s SnackFutures Ventures. “While still in its early stages, Celleste has great promise as a complementary technology to traditional farming practices. Combining Celleste’s technology with our unmatched capability and expertise will push the boundaries of what’s possible in building the cocoa supply chain of the future.”

In addition to being a pivotal innovation for the cocoa industry, Dr. Nitza Kardish, CEO of The Trendlines Agrifood fund, sees Celleste as an example of how to re-build the world’s agricultural system.

“We have yet to feel the full scope and impact of climate change on how we grow and produce the world’s food supply,” says Dr. Kardish. “That is why Trendlines is focused on finding and growing companies like Celleste that are pioneering technologies that can be applied and scaled to many critical crops in the future.”