-
MeliBio partnered with Eleven Madison Park for a special one-time event for World Bee Day.
-
The event showcased MeliBio’s debut plant-based honey in a four-course lunch and variety of cocktail applications at the three Michelin-star restaurant.
-
Earlier this year, MeliBio raised $5.7 million dollars to scale and commercialize sustainable bee-free honey aimed at disrupting the $10 billion dollar honey industry.
MeliBio, the world’s first food-tech company focused on creating real honey without bees, partnered with Eleven Madison Park to host an exclusive World Bee Day celebration. The high-level celebration showcased the award-winning bee-free honey at an intimate cocktail reception featuring a variety of beverages and live performance, followed by a delectable four-course lunch prepared by Eleven Madison Park chefs. Guests were treated to exclusive gift bags of MeliBio samples and a commemorative Eleven Madison Park tin featuring the event menu. Invited guests joined from around the world, including over two-dozen conservation leaders, investors, government officials, and creators.
“By showcasing our first-of-its-kind award-winning honey at the three-Michelin star Eleven Madison Park in New York, we prove that animal-free honey delivers on taste, nutrition, and applications in high-end food and beverage formulations.”
Core to MeliBio’s focus on sustainability and building a better planet, the World Bee Day celebration featured brands and artists focused on impact, with a live jazz performance from New York-based crooner Lowell Oakley of NBC’s The Voice fame. Floral arrangements included in-season, locally-sourced plants and flowers from Starbright Floral Design, a New York-based florist specializing in sustainability and impact. All arrangements were donated after the celebration to families battling childhood cancer at the Ronald McDonald house.
World Bee Day, originally created in Slovenia, is the world’s only day of awareness for bees. Currently, over 20,000 wild and native bee species are endangered due to the effects of climate change and competition from commercially farmed bees – with a staggering 90% decline in the world’s bee population in recent years. Bees are essential for the existence of humankind and provide a crucial role in our ecosystem. As a result, the honey industry is now facing a highly volatile and dwindling supply chain, giving rise to the crucial innovation of bee-free honey products like MeliBio and creating a new future of honey.
“When our team heard Darko pitch MeliBio, we were all instantly impressed – not only with his presentation skills but how he’s harnessed plant science and microbiology-based proprietary technology to help save virtually all bee species that are being pushed out of their natural habitats,” says XRC Labs Founder & Managing Director, Pano Anthos. “Sustainability-focused startups always peak our interest. We’re thrilled to now have MeliBio in our Opportunity Fund and look forward to seeing them expand in a B2B context and beyond.”
MeliBio
MeliBio, was founded in 2020 in Berkley, California and joined Big Idea Ventures Cohort 2. This is a food tech company that is the market leader in bee-free honey. Leveraging a combination of plant science and precision fermentation to produce high quality, sustainable honey to match taste, quality, and nutrition of animal-derived counterparts, MeliBio is on a mission to create a sustainable future for bees, humans, and the planet.
MeliBio was a part of our New Protein Fund I Portfolio. If you want to join our community and receive a US$200,000 investment package to fast-track your alternative protein startup, apply here.
Our New Protein Fund II will be available in Q4 2022 and will build on the learnings of NPF I, allowing us to continue to invest in the most exciting alternative protein companies globally. If you’re interested in joining this new fund, please contact us here.