谷歌前数据科学家融资750万美元打造新一代的纯素奶酪产品

原文：https://vegnews.com/2020/9/google-s-former-data-scientist-raises-7-5-million-to-make-next-level-vegan-cheese

注：译文谨供参考。

GOOGLE’S FORMER DATA SCIENTIST RAISES $7.5 MILLION TO MAKE NEXT-LEVEL VEGAN CHEESE

谷歌前数据科学家融资750万美元打造新一代的纯素奶酪产品

New food technology startup Climax Foods will use machine learning frameworks to unlock the potential of plants with the mission of removing all animals from the food system.

新成立的食品科技初创公司Climax Foods（“巅峰食品”）将利用机器学习框架发掘植物潜能，志在解放全球食品体系中的所有动物。

by ANNA STAROSTINETSKAYA

作者：ANNA STAROSTINETSKAYA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

2020年9月7日

Berkeley, CA-based food technology startup Climax Foods recently closed a $7.5 million seed investment round to fund its mission of creating next-level plant-based foods with the mission of removing animals from the food system to prevent the future pandemics caused by the spread of zoonotic diseases. Climax Foods was founded by Oliver Zahn, PhD, who studied astrophysics at Harvard and most recently worked as a data scientist at Google and Impossible Foods. Using proprietary machine learning frameworks, the company will examine what makes animal products delicious at a molecular level and replicate those qualities using plants, starting with vegan alternatives to dairy cheese.

总部位于美国加州伯克利市的食品科技初创公司Climax Foods最近完成了750万美元的种子投资轮融资，以大力促进其研制新一代的植物性食品，志在解放全球食品体系中的所有动物，防止人畜共通传染病（zoonotic diseases）传播导致未来的大流行病（pandemic）。Climax Foods（“巅峰食品”）公司是由奥利弗·赞恩（Oliver Zahn）博士创立的，他曾在哈佛大学攻读天体物理学博士学位，毕业后以数据科学家身份先后供职于不可能食品公司（Impossible Foods）和谷歌（Google）。通过利用专有的机器学习框架，Climax Foods公司将在分子水平上考查是什么（特性）使动物制品诱人食欲，然后着手用植物材料去复制那些特性；该公司将首先重点研发乳制奶酪的纯素替代品。

“Aged cheese has been a challenging category but the data-driven approach of Climax Foods has created prototypes like nothing I’ve ever tasted on or off the market,” said Leah Volger from Manta Ray Ventures—an investment firm that participated in the seed round.

参与本轮种子融资的Manta Ray Ventures投资公司的（投资总监）莉亚·沃尔格（Leah Volger）说道：“成熟奶酪（aged cheese）向来是一个富有挑战性的食品类别，然而我在市场上或其他地方品尝过的任何奶酪食品，都不如Climax Foods公司采用其数据驱动方法创作出的原型产品。”

Climax Foods’ current team members also include Caroline Love (former sales lead at plant-based egg company Eat Just and an associate producer of The Game Changers); and biochemist Pavel Aronov (who previously worked for Impossible Foods). As for investors, Climax Foods counts Google X co-founder Tom Chi from At One Ventures who believes the startup is uniquely situated to tap into the power of plants as viable replacements for animal products.

Climax Foods公司目前的团队成员还包括卡罗琳·洛芙（Caroline Love）（曾是植物蛋公司Eat Just的销售主管，并担任（纯素纪录片）《素食者联盟》的副制片人）和生物化学家帕维尔·阿隆诺夫（Pavel Aronov）（以前就职于不可能食品公司）等人。Climax Foods公司的投资者众多，其中包括（风险投资公司）At One Ventures的（创始合伙人）纪良育（Tom Chi），他也是Google X公司的一名联合创始人。纪良育认为食品科技初创公司Climax Foods具备独特的条件，能够发挥植物的力量切实可行地取代各种动物制品。

“Climax Foods is unlocking a frontier of how expressive we can be with plant-based foods. They are laying the foundation for a future where healthy, affordable, plant-based foods rival or even surpass the flavor of the animal-based foods they are replacing,” Chi said. “Beyond being delicious, the work is crucial for the transition away from unsustainable animal agriculture which drives massive habitat destruction and generates more than 25 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Climax Foods公司正在开启植物性食品的无限可能，其工作人员致力于为创造美好的未来奠定基础：在将来的食品风味方面，经济实惠的健康植物性食品能够匹敌甚至超越所取代的动物性食品，”纪良育说道。“除了达到美味可口的食品效果，他们的工作对于全面淘汰不可持续的动物农业也是至关重要的。动物农业不但加剧了大规模的生物栖息地破坏，同时还产生了全球25%以上的温室气体排放量。”

Zahn explains that 90 percent of all mammals and 70 percent of all birds on earth exist for the purpose of turning plants into food for humans (i.e. meat, dairy, and eggs), an approach that is wildly inefficient. “We are at a pivotal time where industrialization enabled explosive population growth and consumption of animal products,” Zahn said. “This [animal agriculture] industry is complex and wasteful, creating as much climate change as all modes of transportation combined, and using more than a third of the earth’s water and usable land. By speeding up food science innovation, Climax Foods is able to convert plants into equally craveable foods without the environmental impact.”

赞恩解释说，地球上生长的90%的哺乳动物和70%的禽类动物都是为了将植物转化为供人类食用的食物（即肉类、奶类和蛋类食品），然而这种转化方法是极其低效的。“工业化发展导致了爆炸性的人口增长和动物制品消费，我们当前正处于一个很关键的时期，”赞恩说道。“这个[动物农业]产业是繁琐复杂和浪费资源的，不仅占用了地球三分之一以上的水资源和可用土地，而且其造成的气候变化与所有交通运输方式共同造成的一样大。通过加快食品科技创新，Climax Foods公司能够将植物转化为同样吸引人的食品，而且避免了动物农业所造成的环境影响。”