Friday, January 9, 2015

Soylent, the sludge-like drink that claims to replace real food, valued at $100 million

From the San Jose Mercury-News' SiliconBeat:
Remember Soylent? That sludge-like, wholly unappetizing nutritional drink that supposedly replaces real food?

Apparently, the Play-Doh-like shake known for causing excessive flatulence is possibly worth $100 million.
I’m sorry, did someone say tech bubble?

Soylent, a San Francisco-based startup that develops food supplement drinks that claim to offer all the vitamins and minerals a person needs, thereby becoming a quick and cheap supplement for food, is reportedly close to closing a $10 million round from investors that include top-tier firm Andreessen Horowitz. Re/code was first to report the $100 million valuation.

Soylent was invented after creator and chief executive Rob Rhinehart, watching his funds dwindle after his Y Combinator project failed, and living on ramen and corn dogs, came up with the concoction to save money and the “time and hassle” of eating, he said in a May article in the New Yorker. He compiled what he thought were all the essential chemical components to nourish a human body, ordering them off the Internet, and combined them into the gooey drink that became Soylent. He said he felt healthier than ever (for someone living off corn dogs and ramen).

Rhinehart has published the recipe....MORE