In the ever-evolving world of food innovation, few stories blend culinary passion, cutting-edge technology, and academic rigor quite like that of Grainge.ai. Spun out of UC Davis by co-founders Tarini Naravane and Gabriel Simmons, this early-stage startup is revolutionizing how food manufacturers understand and utilize ingredients. Their goal is to empower the industry with AI-driven ingredient intelligence that predicts how grains and starches behave in formulations, solving one of the industry’s most persistent and often overlooked challenges.

From passion to platform

For Naravane, the seeds of Grainge.ai were planted long before her Ph.D. or her first startup pitch. “As a child, I remember imagining a future where I could spend all day thinking about food,” she says. Born and raised in India, her family emphasized traditional career paths; ones that lead to lab coats or law offices. She studied computer science and went on to work in finance in New York and London, but her passion for food never faded. Outside of work, she immersed herself in the culinary world, managing community kitchens and collaborating with chefs whenever she could, which led her to think more deeply about the structure of ingredients and how they combine.

This dual life in finance and food eventually led her to open a bakery in Munich. But the deeper questions she wanted to answer about food—why dough feels elastic, how fiber affects softness, and what makes food nutritious and stable—required scientific tools. That realization brought her to UC Davis to pursue a Ph.D. in food chemistry, and ultimately to co-found Grainge.ai.

While Naravane was delving into models that predict food properties, Simmons was on a parallel path. A Sacramento native with a master’s degree in computer science from UC Davis, he was exploring machine learning applications in agriculture and food systems through the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems. The two met in a research lab at UC Davis and quickly discovered a shared vision: using technology they could bring precision, predictability and sustainability to food formulation.

Fixing food's blind spot

Despite tremendous innovation in food products, from plant-based meats to gluten-free pastas, the metrics used to assess food ingredients haven’t kept up. “The food industry uses outdated metrics to characterize ingredients; some 50 to 100 years old,” Simmons explains. “This makes it hard to adapt to changes in supply chains and climate conditions. If an ingredient like wheat or rice changes, companies struggle to adjust.”

These outdated standards struggle to predict how an ingredient will perform, whether it will make oat milk creamy or a gluten-free dough elastic. As climate change and supply variability introduce new challenges, companies are left guessing how their ingredients will behave.

Grainge.ai aims to close this gap with what Naravane calls “ingredient intelligence for formulation.” Their platform combines in-house analytical tools and third-party lab data to generate detailed data on molecular composition and physical properties of ingredients. Proprietary algorithms then model how those ingredients will interact when processed, cooked or baked.

“Our goal is to help companies collect and manage ingredient data,” Simmons says. “We also provide machine learning and optimization tools to help companies solve food formulation problems.”

“We’re trying to answer a simple question: Will this ingredient work in this product?” adds Naravane. “For instance, starch can be short, which dissolves easily, or long, which behaves more like fiber. These structural nuances impact everything from texture and shelf stability to digestion.”

In practical terms, this means food companies can reduce costly trial-and-error in their R&D and accelerate product innovation. With Grainge.ai’s platform, they can virtually prototype formulations and focus only on the most promising paths.

Powered by an innovation ecosystem

Grainge.ai’s origin is deeply rooted in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem at UC Davis. Through a fellowship with the Institute for Innovation in Food and Health (IIFH), Naravane interned at Bluestein Ventures, a Chicago-based VC fund focused on food tech. “That experience helped me understand the investor mindset and what it takes to build a scalable company,” she recalls.

Through IIFH, she was introduced to Mike Lemcke and Janine Elliott at Venture Catalyst, a pivotal moment in the company’s journey. “They were instrumental in helping us build a network, pitch at the Born in California showcase, and gain acceptance into the SkyDeck accelerator at UC Berkeley,” she says. Additional support came from professors like Bruce German and Tina Jeoh, whose courses shaped Grainge’s scientific foundation, as well as Inventopia, a Davis-based incubator where the startup currently operates.

Now 18 months in, Grainge.ai is moving beyond pilot projects and gearing up for scale. They are working with early adopters in the food manufacturing space to refine their product, validate their models, and understand how clients use the platform.

“We’re in the business development phase,” Naravane says. “We’re learning what customers need, building pricing models, and preparing for our next fundraising round to expand our lab capabilities and grow the team.”

The long-term vision is to make ingredient formulation as intuitive as digital simulation. Simmons adds, “We want to create a world where food R&D is faster, smarter, and more sustainable, and where ingredients are valued based on performance, not just commodity pricing.”

Building something that lasts

Both founders emphasize the balance between vision and pragmatism. “Go for it. Life’s an adventure,” says Naravane. “But also be grounded. Build slowly, stay lean, and find a co-founder you trust. When things get tough, and they will, you’ll need someone by your side.”

Simmons echoes the sentiment: “Get in touch with reality. Talk to customers and investors early and often. Don’t just sit in the lab.”

With their blend of food science, tech expertise and entrepreneurial grit, the team behind Grainge.ai is proving that a deep love of food, paired with academic and technical rigor, can lead to practical, scalable innovation. They’re not just building a platform, they’re helping reshape how the food industry approaches ingredients, one formulation at a time.