AI personalization: Verdify’s seed funding to customize industry and consumer recipes

15 Oct 2020 --- Netherlands-based Verdify has raised €750,000 (US$878,000) in seed funding for its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform for fully personalized and guideline-based nutrition. It is now set to collaborate with other businesses, including those that analyze DNA and blood.

Verdify is developing a software interface for companies in the food sector to personalize their recipe content to their customers’ individual needs. It is also creating an interactive recipe platform for assisting consumers in planning and purchasing food that supports their personal health.

“The funding will be used to finetune the personalization AI so that it performs at a maximum accuracy rate. In addition, we are mapping the nutrition guidelines for ten countries, where we not only analyze national general nutrition advice but also for over 30 medical conditions,” Jochem Bossenbroek, CEO of Verdify, tells NutritionInsight.

These guidelines are then translated into software rules that further feed the personalization AI. The software will then be integrated into two applications: one for consumers and one for food businesses. 

Bossenbroek anticipates that the platform will be available internationally in Dutch and English in the second quarter of 2021. Verdify also hopes to license its technology to supermarkets next year.The “nutrition passport” contains dozens of parameters about taste and lifestyle preferences, as well as nutritional needs.

Creating a nutrition passport
Consumers will be able to set up a “nutrition passport,” containing dozens of parameters about taste and lifestyle preferences, as well as nutritional needs.

A wealth of matching recipe inspiration is generated on the basis of the nutrition passport, both on the Verdify platform and on the recipe websites of partner companies, who will be announced at a later time. 

The company has trained algorithms with a database containing a million recipes to “read” and “interpret” any digital recipe. Both the ingredients and the cooking instructions are recognized. 

“This allows us to adapt any recipe – not only ours but also from any other source – to the detailed personal nutrition passport of Verdify users,” explains Bossenbroek. 

Tailoring recipes
The AI technology can also determine which ingredients are safe to use for a consumer and which are not – according to the nutrition passport. It then replaces a problematic ingredient with a safe alternative while maintaining taste, nutritional value and recipe identity.

AI tools are also used to reshape a recipe based on the new composition and to write matching cooking instructions automatically.

This recipe platform will also be connected to the order and delivery systems of food retailers and meal delivery platforms. Verdify says this presents a new level of convenience in planning and ordering personalized healthy meals.

Companies in the food sector will be able to personalize their recipe contents. This allows them to tailor meal inspiration content to the exact needs and preferences of consumers.

Verdify is also set to offer the ability to automatically create nutritious recipes around specific novel food products through the application of its AI Chef. Verdify’s technology replaces any problematic ingredients with safe alternatives while maintaining taste, nutritional value and recipe identity.

Collaborations abound
In addition to partnering with undisclosed recipe websites, Verdify is also pursuing collaborations with third-party laboratories that can perform DNA and blood analyses.

“The outcomes of such tests will feed into the nutrition passport and – in the case of blood markers – can be useful to map the nutritional status of anyone over time,” says Bossenbroek.

However, he notes that this concept can only reach its maximum potential when international ingredient databases are complete and accurate, which is currently not the status quo. 

“Quantifying nutritional value, macronutrients and micronutrients for thousands of ingredients is an extremely costly exercise. Therefore, we are looking to set up collaborations with other organizations that face similar challenges.”

Three backers
Two private investors and Genzai, an AI-investment company, contributed to the seed funding round. 

“Food is the biggest market in the world and personalized nutrition is one of the key themes in this market. We are excited to build AI models with Verdify that can really enable personalized nutrition for consumers around the globe,” says Roy Lenders, CEO of Genzai.

“Verdify is fully aligned with our motivation to invest in creative start-ups in the food industry that develop socially responsible concepts on the route from production to consumption,” adds Theo Cuppen, director of Joles and one of the private investors. 

This is not the first time that industry has harnessed AI for personalization. Earlier this week, myAir revealed a series of personalized, stress-countering nutrition bars featuring adaptogens and plant-based ingredients. The ingredients are determined by consumers’ stress levels, as collected by smartwatches. 

Meanwhile, Spoon Guru recently landed the equivalent of US$2.8 million. The start-up uses AI to help give consumers personalized shopping experiences. 

At Future Food-Tech in September, a host of other nutrition players showcased how they were using technology to provide tailored services to consumers. 

By Katherine Durrell, with additional reporting by Kristiana Lalou