In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2026 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs.
Podcast Host Alex Shandrovsky is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners, Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist.
Episode 110: Sérgio Pinto on Surviving the Long Game, Renegotiating a “No,” and Upcycling Coffee Side-Streams
In this episode, I sit down with Sérgio Pinto, the unyielding founder and CEO of Cellva Ingredients, who shares one of the most intense, relentless fundraising stories you will ever hear. Sérgio reveals how he turned a critical, last-minute “no” into a 20 million Reais (~$4M USD) Pre-Series A round led by Amazonian corporate-backed tech powerhouse Digibor. He outlines the operational complexities of straddling Brazil’s commercial epicenter in São Paulo and its rugged robusta coffee infrastructure in Manaus. Sérgio also takes us deep into the underlying regulatory strategies and unit economics driving Kafkoa—their high-margin, functional cocoa substitute derived entirely from upcycled coffee side-streams.
Listen to the full episode to discover how Sérgio rescued a dead deal just ten days after his second child was born, how Cellva navigated European and Japanese regulatory pathways without novel food classification, and how they built an integrated network of over 150 local coffee farmers.
Funding: Closed a 20 million Reais (~$4M USD) Pre-Series A round.
Investor: Round led by DigiBoard, with additional participation from existing backers such as Air Capital and angel investors like Rubens Pereira
Cellva Ingredients is redefining circular nutrition by turning Brazil’s massive agricultural side-streams into premium, high-value functional ingredients. While traditionally known for cell-cultivated fat development, Cellva has rapidly scaled a market-ready infrastructure that utilizes micro-encapsulation to transform coffee husks and byproducts into Kafkoa, a multi-tiered structural substitute for cocoa.
By operating directly in the Amazonian robusta coffee corridors, Cellva secures low-cost raw materials while creating sustainable employment for remote farming populations. This distinct environmental mandate provides a unique competitive edge, allowing Cellva to unlock regional state-backed funds, build a resilient supply chain of over 150 local growers, and establish a clear path toward processing thousands of tons annually.
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