Plant cell culture could disrupt food ingredients market

Startup Rheaplant is betting that plant cell culture can move beyond pharmaceuticals and become a scalable platform for food, nutraceutical and botanical ingredients, as long as the industry can overcome one major challenge: production costs.

According to information published by AgFunderNews, the US startup recently secured fresh funding from Big Idea Ventures after previously receiving backing from 2045 Ventures. Founded in 2025 by CEO Sowmya Purushothaman and CTO Derek Scholin, the company is developing plant cell culture systems designed for food-grade production rather than expensive pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The company believes the sector could dramatically expand over the next decade if producers abandon traditional biopharma infrastructure and adopt more flexible, modular systems adapted to food and nutraceutical economics.

Plant cell culture works by growing plant cells in controlled bioreactors instead of cultivating full plants in soil and outdoor environments. The process enables companies to produce valuable plant compounds in stable conditions while reducing exposure to climate disruptions, geopolitical risks and contaminated soils.

“When we talk to potential clients in the botanicals space, some of them are distraught,” Scholin said, according to AgFunderNews. “They say things like: ‘One year we didn’t have a product.’”

Rheaplant is currently working with 13 plant cell lines, including ashwagandha, rhodiola and American ginseng, while also exploring applications for colorants, anthocyanins and alternative sweeteners.

One of the company’s main goals is to lower production costs through smaller modular bioreactors instead of massive pharmaceutical-grade steel tanks. Purushothaman explained that Rheaplant is targeting systems between 2,000 and 5,000 liters, with plans to eventually surpass 50,000 liters of total production capacity.

“Our goal is to build at least 50,000-L+ of total capacity within the next six or so years,” Purushothaman said.

The startup argues that this distributed production model could make plant cell culture commercially viable for nutraceuticals and specialty food ingredients, sectors that cannot support pharmaceutical-level manufacturing expenses.

According to AgFunderNews, Rheaplant is also developing alternative sterilization technologies that do not rely on traditional steam-based systems, another step intended to simplify infrastructure and reduce operational costs.

“The pharmaceutical grade approach is robust but it’s not going to work for the food sector,” Purushothaman stated.

Unlike precision fermentation systems based on yeast or bacteria, plant cell culture can produce highly complex botanical compounds that are difficult or impossible to replicate with microbial systems.

The company is not currently using genetic engineering for its products. Instead, it adjusts growing conditions and applies specific stressors to stimulate desired biochemical pathways inside the plant cells.

Those stressors can include changes in nutrients, temperature, pH levels or chemical compounds such as caffeine and theobromine.

Rheaplant also sees an opportunity in supply chain instability affecting the global botanicals market. Climate variability and inconsistent harvests have created challenges for companies dependent on traditional agricultural sourcing.

Beyond ingredient production, the startup is positioning itself as a broader platform company capable of helping partners develop plant cell lines and scale production systems.

The growing interest in plant cell culture comes as investors continue searching for new forms of sustainable biomanufacturing. However, financing remains difficult after several high-profile struggles across the food tech and alternative protein sectors.

Scholin acknowledged that many agrifoodtech investors still view biomanufacturing as highly capital intensive. But he argued that plant cell culture offers long-term advantages because plant cells can produce complex compounds that microbes cannot.

“With some clients, there’s a sort of fascination with it when you tell them we can grow plants without making roots or leaves or stems, so 100% of what we grow is product,” Scholin said.