NextGen Nutrition Investment Partners Invests in Paragon Pure
Next Gen Nutrition Investment Partners LLC has announced an investment in Paragon Pure (Paragon Flavors Inc, https://paragonpure.com/). Paragon Pure is a B2B ingredient company based on fat structuring and precision sprouting technologies enabling flavorful fats from up-cycled rice bran and highly functional wholegrain rice flours. These innovative food ingredients capitalize on consumer trends towards superior nutrition (especially sugar replacement and plant-based meat analogs), easy to understand ingredients, and environmental sustainability. “Paragon is a perfect fit for NextGen Nutrition,” said NGN partner Andrew Towle. “They are developing products that have the potential to fundamentally improve nutrition at a societal level with their sugar replacement technologies and low saturated fat, sustainably sourced fat products.”
“We met Jim and Andrew and NGN over a year ago. Their mentorship has helped us develop our business, and naturally we are thrilled to have them as investors”, said Paragon co-founder and CEO Chris Gregson. “Their experience, expertise and networks in the food industry will help us grow to achieve our full potential.” Co-founder and CTO Matt Sillick said “Our strong technical background as ingredient innovators matches well with the commercial expertise that NGN brings."
Paragon Pure has several products that are in the late stages of commercial development with first revenues expected later this year. This includes OléPBM™ (https://paragonpure.com/innovation/), a family of structured fat products formulated for plant-based meat, dairy and bakery applications, that are low in saturated fat and have a taste and performance similar to that of animal-based fats. As an upcycled product made from rice bran, it is a compelling sustainably sourced product. It can deliver a superior taste experience and potentially deliver lower cost-in-use versus existing products. As such, OléPBM can be a key contributing factor to alternative meat category expansion. Paragon Pure’s second product, SproutedByNature™, is a range of wholegrain rice flours that have been precision sprouted to achieve excellent bulking and binding functionalities. These highly soluble ingredients can replace maltodextrins, corn and tapioca syrups to impart binding without adding sugar to applications such as snack bars. NGN’s Jim Cali said, “Paragon Pure has highly innovative products that not only offer superior nutrition options for the world’s food companies, but they are sustainably sourced or upcycled to be better for the planet as well”.
NextGen Nutrition Investment Partners invests in early and growth-stage companies in the food industry, focusing on businesses offering superior nutrition and a reduced impact to the planet, including branded food and beverages, food tech and superior food ingredients. As former consumer product executives with extensive experience in the food and beverage industry, the firm’s principals’ operational expertise will help these companies deliver superior business results and better returns for investors. NGN can be found at www.ngn-ip.com.