Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Alexander Choi, Co-Founder, and CEO of Natuur Brands LLC., located in Chicago, IL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Natuur Brands is a biotechnology research firm focused on the rapidly expanding ingestible cannabis market, namely cannabis edibles, beverages, and other non-smokable consumption forms. Today's ingestible products (think brownies, gummies, seltzers, or chocolates) are infused with cannabis extract, a viscous, difficult-to-work-with concentration of the marijuana plant's active ingredients. As a result, consumers struggle with today's products as regular extract (1) tastes terrible, (2) is difficult to dose consistently or accurately, and (3) takes 45-90 minutes to deliver onset. That's why we created Natuur Nano, a new way to process extract that solves all the problems mentioned above. We apply nanotechnology principles to convert cannabis extract into a fine powder that can readily infuse into any food or beverage.
Tell us about yourself
Natuur Nano's patent-pending technology (1) removes any taste of cannabis extract, (2) is ready-to-infuse out of the box without the need for specialized equipment or training, and (3) reduces onset to 10-20 minutes. Natuur Nano's groundbreaking characteristics mean any food or beverage can now become a fast-acting edible without any change to its flavor and texture. Natuur is a biotechnology research firm focused on the rapidly expanding ingestible cannabis market, namely cannabis edibles, beverages, and other non-smokable consumption forms.
Today's ingestible products (think brownies, gummies, seltzers, or chocolates) are infused with cannabis extract, a viscous, difficult-to-work-with concentration of the marijuana plant's active ingredients. As a result, consumers struggle with today's products infused with extract because (1) it tastes terrible, (2) it's difficult to dose consistently or accurately, and (3) it takes 45-90 minutes to deliver onset.
That's why we created Natuur Nano, a new way to process extract that solves all the problems mentioned above. We apply nanotechnology principles to convert cannabis extract into a fine powder that can readily infuse into any food or beverage. Natuur Nano's patent-pending technology (1) removes any taste of cannabis extract, (2) is ready-to-infuse out of the box without the need for specialized equipment or training, and (3) reduces onset to 10-20 minutes while amplifying bioavailability and effects. Natuur Nano's groundbreaking characteristics mean any food or beverage can now become a fast-acting edible without any change to its flavor or texture.
Our customers are cannabis infusers who create ingestible products
we operate on the B2B side of the legal cannabis industry by providing our conversion services to manufacturers who are seeking to improve their cannabis edibles, beverages, and more significantly.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We started Natuur as a class project as seniors at the University of Chicago. The first iteration of Natuur was a granola bite edibles company, and we didn't intend to pursue this venture full-time as we already had jobs post-graduation. But as time progressed, we were referred to the school's venture capital competition, where we placed third and received an investment from the university. After that, we decided to raise a pre-seed and pursue our venture full-time, participating in incubators as we built out our business and dug into R&D over the next few months.
While developing our granola bites with veteran food scientists and laboratories, we discovered a new way to process extract that removed its flavor, made it fast-acting, turned it into a shelf & supply chain stable powder, and preserved all of the extract's active ingredients and effects. After experimenting with our new technology, we quickly realized it was water soluble and heat resistant, meaning it could integrate into virtually any food or beverage product. Shortly after, we put our granola bites on hold and pivoted our entire business to focus on launching our proprietary powder into the market.
We started Natuur as a class project while seniors at the University of Chicago. The first iteration of Natuur was a granola bite edibles company, and we didn't intend to pursue this venture full-time as we already had jobs post-graduation. But as time progressed, we were referred to the school's venture capital competition, where we placed third and received an investment from the university. We then decided to raise a pre-seed and pursue our venture full-time, participating in incubators as we built out our business and dug into R&D right after graduation.
While developing our granola bites with veteran food scientists and laboratories, we discovered a new way to process extract that removed its flavor, made it fast-acting, turned it into a shelf & supply chain stable powder, and preserved all of the extract's active ingredients and effects. After experimenting with our new technology, we quickly realized the extract powder was also water soluble and heat resistant, meaning it could integrate into virtually any food or beverage product. Shortly after, we put our granola bites on hold and pivoted our entire business to focus on launching our proprietary powder, now dubbed Natuur Nano, into the market.
The interesting thing about our pivot is that Natuur's core motivation remains unchanged: to improve the way we regard cannabis by making it more approachable, enjoyable, and consumer friendly. We exist to help other brands make better products by allowing them to focus on developing fantastic recipes without worrying about extract infusion. Because when they create innovative, delicious, and broadly-appealing products, as is enabled by Natuur Nano, the industry benefits as a whole.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
While we're still pre-launch, we're only weeks away from debuting Natuur Nano into the Massachusetts market. We had just emerged from stealth and kicked off our pre-sale process, and securing our first enterprise-level customer within days was incredible validation of its importance and product-market fit. We still have miles and miles to go (and a pipeline of new projects to kick off), but it was an amazing feeling to know Natuur Nano will have a place in the rapidly growing cannabis industry.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
I think it's the lack of structure that comes with running an early-stage startup. My background has been in venture capital and startup consulting, but I primarily worked with Series B or later ventures that had larger teams and broader product suites. At first, it was difficult to manage the sheer amount of tasks on both our short- and long-term horizons, all while juggling day-to-day meetings and partnerships that shifted our product roadmaps on a weekly basis. But we learned how to prioritize, delegate, and delineate responsibilities, and perhaps most importantly, found our rhythm in the uncertainty that accompanies early-stage ventures. I think the hardest thing for me was learning when to leave something for tomorrow. I'm a "get it done as soon as possible" kind of person, but in a startup, that approach to work isn't sustainable as there will always be some project or email to respond to. Learning when to take a break has been critical to avoiding burnout and helps us maintain the energy necessary to keep our momentum going!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.natuurbrands.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natuurbrands/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NatuurBrands
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/natuurbrands/
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