Proxy Foods AI has closed a $6 million seed funding round to expand its AI-native research and development platform for the food and beverage industry. The capital will be used to strengthen the company’s food science, regulatory and commercialization capabilities and to grow its global customer base.
The round was led by Ted Leonsis, Founder, Chairman, Managing Partner and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, with participation from Robert G. Hisaoka and SWaN & Legend Venture Partners. Proxy Foods AI said the funds will be deployed to enhance its enterprise platform, accelerate development of AI agents for food and beverage innovation, and increase adoption among consumer packaged goods manufacturers, foodservice operators and ingredient suppliers.
Proxy Foods AI platform and claimed impact
Proxy Foods AI’s platform is designed to help companies codify institutional R&D knowledge, predict formulation performance before lab testing and speed development of new products and reformulations. The company says customers using the platform have seen measurable results, “reducing new product development iterations by 80%, achieved 2-10% reductions in cost of goods for reformulation projects, shortened prototype development timelines from months to days and generated full platform return on investment from a single successful product launch.”
The company cites clients such as Barilla, MISTA, restaurant chain CAVA and Gefsinus, and says the average enterprise customer generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Panos Kostopoulos, CEO of Proxy Foods AI, highlighted the platform’s potential: “Leading food and beverage companies leverage our platform to create a new R&D environment, where teams are empowered by technology to fully use their creative capacity, quickly reimagine legacy products, open up new categories, and deliver better taste, nutrition, and affordability.” He added, “AI helps solve the inefficiencies and imbalances of large food manufacturing systems, and the result is better food at scale, for everyone.”
Research partnerships and security
Beyond commercial work, Proxy Foods AI has expanded academic research efforts. The company partnered with Stanford University and Food System Innovations to develop product optimization models using Expert Guided Bayesian Optimization (EGBO), which reportedly achieved near-perfect sensory matching while surpassing traditional product development methods. It is also part of a Good Food Institute-funded research project with the Federal University of Paraná and McGill University that focuses on applying AI to develop cell culture media for cultivated meat production.
On infrastructure, Proxy Foods AI said it has partnered with cybersecurity firm Aperio Global to add a Zero Trust, quantum-resilient security layer capable of computing on encrypted formulation data without compromising proprietary information. The company intends this security model to support organizations that manage sensitive R&D, sourcing, manufacturing and regulatory data.
Leonsis commented on the investment: “When I first met Panos, it was clear he was building a platform that could revolutionize our global food system, and I was eager to support his vision.” He added, “Proxy Foods AI is applying innovative technology to one of the world’s largest and most essential industries in a way that is practical, measurable and built for scale. This funding will help expand the capabilities of Proxy Foods AI’s platform and bring its technology to more food and beverage companies around the world, fundamentally reshaping and accelerating innovation across the global food system.”
Maria Velissariou, a member of the advisory board and former Chief Science Officer at Mars, spoke to the role of AI in product design: “I believe the future of food R&D lies in AI-enabled product design, shifting innovation from trial-and-error to predictive science. Proxy Foods is redefining how food companies enhance today’s portfolios while designing the next generation of products, making innovation faster, smarter, and more future-ready.”
Other investors in the round include Ike Grigoropoulos, Ted Xenohristos, Dimitri Moshovitis, Howard Eisenberg, Jeff Skoll, Roger W. Ferguson Jr., Michelle Freeman, Yiannis Gavrielides, Evee and Alexander Georgiadis, Chris Goulakos, George P. Stamas and Grant Verstandig.
