Celleste Bio, an early-stage cocoa-tech company, announced 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to meet the world’s rising demand for chocolate in the face of supply chain challenges created by climate change and outdated, conventional farming practices.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. This round provides us with the financial and strategic support we need to accelerate product development, scalability and commercial readiness.”
-- Michal Beressi Golomb, CEO, Celleste Bio

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

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

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.