Italian-based confectionary giant Ferrero uses more than 30,000 recipes every year in products that include Nutella and Kinder chocolates, and that complexity can make changes difficult. So after cocoa prices surged in 2024, Ferrero started to work with NotCo, a San Francisco based food tech company, as the startup demonstrated how its software can help reduce volatility and identify alternative ingredients without impacting taste, texture or flavor.

“If you change one thing, you change everything else,” explains Matias Muchnick, NotCo founder and CEO. “A computational problem is not a linear problem.”

A 37-year-old Chilean who lives between San Francisco and Santiago, Muchnick has become the food industry’s fixer. Using an artificial intelligence platform he has been building since 2015 (founded one day before OpenAI), his company creates plant-based alternatives for products typically made from dairy and meat. In the past four years, for instance, NotCo has developed 30 new products for Kraft Heinz through a joint venture, including Mac & Cheese, Kraft Singles and Oscar Mayer Sausages.

“We’ve become the Better Call Saul for all the most complex problems that the biggest brands in the food industry have,” says Muchnick.

Backed by Jeff Bezos, Roger Federer, Tiger Global, L Catterton, Kaszek Ventures and other investors, NotCo is the largest AI company in the food space—its AI-based business grew 300% last year, with $75 million in estimated annual revenue.

The company has raised over $425 million—which gave it a valuation of $1.5 billion—and Muchnick projects he won’t have to raise money again for a few years, but if he did, the valuation would be far higher due to the AI boom. At current market rates, based on revenue, NotCo could be valued at multiples well above 20 times sales.

Muchnick remains the single largest shareholder and retains an estimated 20% stake worth at least $300 million.

NotCo’s business split into two formal divisions two years ago: a profitable one for the AI enterprise software business with an estimated 70% gross income margin, and a currently unprofitable one for its in-house line of food products, including vegan milk and mayo, which serves to advertise what NotCo can do with its AI model.

The consumer-facing division is close to profitability and is growing at around 30% every year from 130 different........

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