Amai Proteins
Amai Proteins is an Israel-based food technology company that produces sweelin®, a precision-fermented sweet protein ingredient for food and beverage manufacturers, enabling 40-70% sugar reduction with FDA GRAS and Singapore regulatory approval.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersRehovot, Israel
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Amai Proteins does
Amai Proteins is a Rehovot, Israel-based food technology company that develops and produces designer sweet proteins as functional ingredients for food and beverage manufacturers. Its flagship product, sweelin®, is a monellin-based sweet protein inspired by the serendipity berry, produced via precision fermentation using the same yeast strain employed for the Impossible Burger's heme ingredient. sweelin® is approximately 3,000 times sweeter than sugar on a weight-to-weight basis and is positioned to enable 40-70% sugar reduction across applications including soft drinks, fruit juices, dairy, sauces, chocolate, confectionery, and dietary supplements, without compromising taste, cost, or clean-label positioning ('Serendipity Berry Sweet Protein'). The company has published the world's first human clinical trial data on sweet proteins, confirming no impact on blood glucose, insulin, or GLP-1 levels.
The company's core technology is the Pro3 Platform, which combines AI Computational Protein Design (AI-CPD) with precision fermentation and food technology to engineer proteins optimized for taste, manufacturability, and food compatibility. Amai holds granted patents on both the Pro3 Platform and sweelin® production methods, and trades on its regulatory achievements — FDA GRAS approval in February 2026 and Singapore Food Agency approval in May 2026 — as the first precision fermentation-derived sweet protein to receive these clearances, opening U.S. and APAC commercial markets.
Amai operates a B2B enterprise sales model, selling sweelin® as an ingredient on quote-based, annual-billing supply agreements to large CPG and food manufacturers. Commercial validation to date is anchored by named partnerships with Ocean Spray (first protein-sweetened reduced-sugar cranberry juice, December 2020) and the EIT Food 'Sugar-out, Prot-In' consortium with PepsiCo and Danone (September 2019). The company has raised approximately $22.8 million across disclosed rounds from 2017 through 2022, with investors including iAngels, Welltech Ventures, Zora Ventures, BayWa Venture, SGInnovate, and the Israel Innovation Authority, and is led by CEO Amir Guttman following the founder-led era of Dr. Ilan Samish.
Amai Proteins firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Amai Proteins
- Legal name
- Amai Proteins
- Website
- https://amaiproteins.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Amai Proteins is an Israel-based food technology company that produces sweelin®, a precision-fermented sweet protein ingredient for food and beverage manufacturers, enabling 40-70% sugar reduction with FDA GRAS and Singapore regulatory approval.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Amai Proteins industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Food Ingredients
- NAICS
- Flavoring Syrup and Concentrate Manufacturing (311930), Food Manufacturing (311)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090), Food And Kindred Products (2000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Natural High-Intensity Sweeteners (Stevia, Monk Fruit, Thaumatin) (AFAJAAAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Fermentation-Derived Alternative Proteins Manufacturing (Precision Fermentation) (AFAKAGAH), Sweetness Modulators & Enhancers (Sweetness Boosters, Temporal Modifiers) (AFAJADAH), Sweetener Blends & Systems (Bulk + HIS Blends, Customized Sweetening Systems) (AFAJAAAO)
Keywords
Where Amai Proteins is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rehovot
- HQ country
- Israel
- HQ region
- Middle East
Offices1 record
Markets served
Amai Proteins business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Ingredient Sales to Food & Beverage Manufacturers: Amai Proteins sells sweelin® as an ingredient to food and beverage companies for use in their products. The company enables significant sugar reduction (40-70%) in customer formulations without compromising taste, health, cost, or sustainability.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | B2B ingredient pricing for food and beverage manufacturers |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Amai Proteins product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Amai Proteins develops and produces sweelin®, a hyper-sweet protein ingredient (~3,000× sweeter than sugar) derived from the serendipity berry and manufactured via precision fermentation using its proprietary Pro3 Platform (AI Computational Protein Design + Precision Fermentation + Food Technology). The ingredient is sold to food and beverage manufacturers as a drop-in sugar-reduction solution, enabling 40–70% sugar replacement across beverages, dairy, confectionery, condiments, and supplements without compromising taste, health, cost, or sustainability.
Product overview
Amai Proteins is a food technology company that operates a platform-plus-products model. The company developed sweelin®, a hyper-sweet protein ingredient produced via its proprietary Pro3 Platform technology, which combines AI Computational Protein Design with Precision Fermentation. sweelin® serves as a functional ingredient for food and beverage manufacturers to reduce sugar content by 40-70% while maintaining taste and functionality.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- sweelin®: Flaghip hyper-sweet protein product derived from serendipity berry, approximately 3,000 times sweeter than sugar, produced via precision fermentation. Enables up to 70% sugar reduction in food and beverages.
- Pro3 Platform
Products and services
- sweelin® Sweet Protein A hyper-sweet protein ingredient derived from the serendipity berry and produced via precision fermentation; approximately 3,000× sweeter than sugar weight-to-weight. Sold to food and beverage manufacturers to enable 40–70% sugar reduction across beverages, chocolate, condiments, confectionery, chewing gum, and dietary supplements without compromising taste, health, cost, or sustainability. Labeled as 'Serendipity Berry Sweet Protein' for clean-label positioning.
Quantifiable outcome
- 40-70% sugar reduction in food and beverages
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Amai Proteins
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Amai Proteins technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature4 records
Amai Proteins partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.
- Ocean SpraycoreOcean Spray partnered with Amai Proteins to create the first protein-sweetened reduced sugar cranberry juice. The new beverage aims to feature approximately 40% less sugar while maintaining the classic taste of Ocean Spray cranberry products. This partnership represents early commercial validation of sweelin® in real product applications.
- SodaStreamminorSodaStream's syrup R&D department conducted initial testing of Amai's sweet proteins for potential incorporation into their beverage products. The collaboration explored whether sweelin® could work with SodaStream's product profile and taste requirements.
- PepsiCocorePepsiCo joined the 'Sugar-out, Prot-In' consortium with Amai Proteins, Danone, and the Technion Institute of Technology as part of an EIT Food initiative to develop sugar reduction solutions for food products. The consortium aims to address the global sugar overconsumption problem through innovative protein-based sweeteners.
- DanonecoreDanone partnered in the 'Sugar-out, Prot-In' consortium focused on developing sugar reduction solutions through sweet proteins. As part of the Sugar & Sweetness acceleration project, Danone is working with Amai to explore how sweet proteins can be incorporated into dairy and functional food products.
- Technion Institute of TechnologymajorThe Technion Institute of Technology serves as the academic research partner in the 'Sugar-out, Prot-In' consortium, providing scientific expertise in protein design and fermentation technology for the development of sweet proteins.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Amai Proteins competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Bonumose: Bonumose produces rare sugars (e.g., tagatose, allulose) via proprietary enzymatic/fermentation processes as lower-calorie, low-glycemic sweeteners for food and beverage manufacturers. It is the most direct competitor to Amai in the alternative-sweetener-for-sugar-reduction category, addressing the same CPG customers with a similar B2B ingredient model.
- Manus Bio: Manus Bio develops specialty ingredients through advanced fermentation, including natural flavor and sweetener ingredients. It is directly comparable to Amai in combining AI/systems biology with precision fermentation to produce food-grade ingredients for CPG customers.
- Amyris: Amyris used precision fermentation to produce ingredients such as sugarcane-derived sugar (Reb M) and other food-grade ingredients. Despite its recent restructuring, it is a direct comparable for the precision-fermentation sweetener ingredient model Amai is pursuing.
- The EVERY Company (formerly Clara Foods): The EVERY Company uses precision fermentation to produce animal-free proteins (ovalbumin, etc.) for food and beverage manufacturers. It is directly comparable to Amai in applying precision fermentation to food ingredients and selling B2B to CPGs, though on a different end-application.
- Perfect Day: Perfect Day uses precision fermentation to produce animal-free whey and casein proteins for food and beverage companies. It shares Amai's core precision-fermentation protein platform technology and B2B CPG ingredient business model, though targeting dairy proteins rather than sweeteners.
- Geltor: Geltor produces animal-free functional proteins (e.g., collagen, elastin) via precision fermentation for CPG customers. Comparable to Amai as a precision-fermentation protein producer for food/beauty ingredients serving large consumer brands.
Emerging players
- MycoTechnology: MycoTechnology uses fermentation (mycelial and otherwise) to develop food ingredients including sweetness-modulation and taste-masking solutions for CPG customers. Comparable as a fermentation-derived food ingredient supplier addressing sugar reduction and taste challenges.
Broad incumbents
- Cargill (EverSweet / sweetener portfolio): Cargill, through EverSweet (with DSM) and its broader sweetener and ingredient portfolio, is a major incumbent supplier of stevia- and fermentation-derived sweeteners to CPGs. It is a broad incumbent that overlaps with Amai in fermentation-derived sweeteners but operates at much larger scale and across many categories.
- Ingredion (PureCircle / stevia portfolio): Ingredion, which acquired PureCircle, is one of the largest suppliers of stevia-based sweeteners and other sugar-reduction ingredients to global CPGs. It is a broad incumbent competitor to Amai in the natural high-intensity sweetener category.
- DSM-Firmenich: DSM-Firmenich is a global leader in food ingredients, flavors, and sweeteners, including fermentation-derived stevia (with Cargill via Avansya). Comparable as a broad incumbent offering fermentation-derived sweeteners and taste solutions to the same CPG customer base Amai targets.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Amai Proteins social profiles
Digital presenceAmai Proteins compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Amai Proteins financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Amai Proteins leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Amai Proteins funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors12 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Amai Proteins M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Amai Proteins
What does Amai Proteins do?
Amai Proteins develops and produces sweelin®, a hyper-sweet protein ingredient (~3,000× sweeter than sugar) derived from the serendipity berry and manufactured via precision fermentation using its proprietary Pro3 Platform (AI Computational Protein Design + Precision Fermentation + Food Technology). The ingredient is sold to food and beverage manufacturers as a drop-in sugar-reduction solution, enabling 40–70% sugar replacement across beverages, dairy, confectionery, condiments, and supplements without compromising taste, health, cost, or sustainability.
Is Amai Proteins a public or private company?
Amai Proteins is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Amai Proteins founded?
Amai Proteins was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Amai Proteins based?
Amai Proteins is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel, in the Middle East region.
How does Amai Proteins make money?
One revenue line is on record: ingredient Sales to Food & Beverage Manufacturers.
Who are Amai Proteins's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bonumose, Manus Bio, Amyris, The EVERY Company (formerly Clara Foods), Perfect Day and Geltor. MycoTechnology is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Cargill (EverSweet / sweetener portfolio), Ingredion (PureCircle / stevia portfolio) and DSM-Firmenich.
Does Amai Proteins have an API?
No public API is recorded for Amai Proteins.
What industry is Amai Proteins in?
Amai Proteins's product category is Food Ingredients. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAJAAAH, Natural High-Intensity Sweeteners (Stevia, Monk Fruit, Thaumatin), with a secondary code of AFAKAGAH, Fermentation-Derived Alternative Proteins Manufacturing (Precision Fermentation). Its NAICS code is 311930 and its SIC code is 2090.