Shiru

Shiru is one of the cleaner expressions of the "AI-for-ingredients" thesis because it has shipped a product, not just a platform. Its Flourish engine screens tens of millions of natural protein sequences to find candidates with specific functional properties, and it has converted that into OleoPro — a protein-stabilized structured fat built around its uPro emulsifying protein — designed to replace saturated, tropical and animal fats like palm and tallow. That is a far larger and more durable market than novel proteins on paper: fat functionality is a universal problem in baked goods, dairy alternatives and meat analogues, and OleoPro is moving into commercial production with a co-manufacturer while Shiru samples globally. The validation is arriving from incumbents, which is what matters in B2B ingredients: a partnership with Griffith Foods, and an R&D collaboration with global ingredient major Ingredion around AI-discovered proteins for gut health — the kind of relationship that turns a discovery platform into a supply contract. Backed by S2G Ventures, Lux Capital and CPT Capital with roughly $37M raised, and led by a protein-engineering PhD who ran food chemistry at JUST, Shiru is positioned as the neutral discovery layer big CPG and ingredient houses license rather than build, monetizing both its own products (OleoPro) and platform access via ProteinDiscovery.ai.