Umaro Foods, featured on Shark Tank Season 13 Episode 18 for their vegan bacon food, is a restaurant chain. Umaro Foods gets the seaweed for its plant-based protein from the ocean. Umaro Foods’ co-founders, Zotter and Stiles, appeared on Shark Tank to request funding in exchange for two percent ownership for $500,000 in exchange.
Both Zotter and Stiles are strong, capable women who use their own inventions to advance the field of unique technology. Umaro Foods has developed a technology that could revolutionize the food industry by improving upon the traditional seaweed farming technique.
The global seaweed market is worth an estimated $16.7 billion. China is the world’s largest producer of seaweed.
Umaro’s love-cost seaweed farming method increases crop yields without adding to land conversion or forest loss, making it a valuable addition to the region’s food supply.
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Umaro Foods Shark Tank
| Company Name | Umaro Foods |
| Founder | Beth Zotter and Amanda Stiles |
| Product | UMARO Foods specializes in developing a plant-based protein source from ocean-farmed seaweed. |
| Asked For | $500,000 For 2% Equity |
| Final Deal | $1,000,000 For 7% Equity |
| Shark | Mark Cuban |
| Episode (Shark Tank USA) | Season 13 Episode 18 |
| Business Status | In Business |
| Net Worth | $14 Million *Approx |
What Is Umaro Foods?
Seaweed is processed into natural proteins for women and children at Umaro Foods, an American food company with headquarters in Albany, California. This new business venture was introduced to the public in the year 2022.
Some nutritional authorities claim that seaweed is the healthiest source of protein in its natural form.
This is due to the widespread misconception that seaweed is merely a plant that thrives in salt water. It can be left alone and will grow without any assistance from you other than the occasional soaking or light fertilizing.
Despite its name, Meat Eater is not bacon but rather a vegan supplier of vegan bacon food. There’s a lot of meatiness, crunchiness, and crispiness in this dish.
Umaro Foods claims that a wide variety of plant-based proteins, including seaweed, chickpeas, coconut, sunflower, plant flavors and colors, sea salt, and sugarcane, can be used in transportation.
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All About The Inventors
Scientist Amanda Stiles hails from Berkeley, California. At Virginia Tech, she studied biology and earned a bachelor’s degree. She also earned her doctorate in plant molecular biology from the same school.
Beth Zotter is a native of the San Francisco area who attended Harvard to study public policy and environmental science. Amanda did her postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, where Beth also earned her master’s degree in energy and resources.
Most of Stiles’s research was put to use while she was employed by firms like Ripple Foods, Activate, and American Journal Experts. In contrast, Zotter held a variety of positions at companies like Energetics, Inc., Bio Architecture Lab, and Cyclotron Road.
Establishing A New Business
As someone with extensive knowledge in the field of renewable energy, Zotter was awarded $5 million by the U.S. Department of Energy to establish seaweed farms for use as a fuel alternative. As a result of her research, she learned that seaweed is a rich resource for protein.
Inspired by this, she set out to create a bacon substitute made entirely from plants. Amanda was the Berkeley plant-based protein expert that she was looking for.
These two women had similar motivations, and so they collaborated to develop Umaro, the first vegan substitute for bacon. Clear Current Capital invested $3 million in the company at its inception in 2022.
Participation In The Shark Tank
As soon as Amanda and Beth had produced 500 bacon slices, they knew they would need to find additional funding.
They went on Shark Tank in season 13, offering investors $500,000 for a 2% stake. The Shark’s stake would be diminished if the company was valued at $25 million because doing so would necessitate additional funding rounds in the future.
They hope to market additional meat substitutes made from seaweed, such as bacon. Kevin O’Leary was the first to make an offer, and the rest of the Sharks quickly followed suit. Nonetheless, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner were the ones to square off.
The feminist card that Lori was trying to play backfired. Mark triumphed when he agreed to Beth and Amanda’s revised offer of $1 million for 7%.
Conclusion
UMARO Foods was founded by Chief Technology Officer Amanda Stiles (a Cohort 2020 Activate Fellow) and Chief Executive Officer Beth Zotter, who are creating the foundational technology needed to make ocean-farmed seaweed a viable new source of protein for a healthy planet.
