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Lasso is a food technology company developing a proprietary SpinTech platform for structured protein foods. This nature-inspired process organizes plant-based proteins into aligned, fibrous structures, effectively addressing texture and functionality challenges in alternative sources. The technology enables clean-label, high-protein foods with superior taste and performance.
Founded in 2020 as Tender Food by Christophe Chantre, Grant Gonzalez, and Luke MacQueen, the company originated from recognizing the difficulty in replicating natural protein textures with plant-based ingredients. Leveraging their scientific expertise, the co-founders developed scalable technology to overcome these limitations. Mike Messersmith subsequently joined as CEO.
Lasso primarily serves food companies, offering advanced tools to design differentiated products across various protein sources. Its vision is to modernize protein food manufacturing, fostering a new generation of high-quality, structured protein products. By providing a sustainable solution for complex food textures, Lasso aims to expand innovative, plant-based options.
Lasso Labs has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round.
Lasso Labs has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Lasso Labs is a seed-stage technology company founded in 2022, specializing in a data platform that discovers and maps utility for digital assets like NFTs. Based in San Francisco (with some references to San Mateo, CA), it raised $4.2M in seed funding led by Electric Capital, with participation from Ethereal Ventures, Village Global, and others including OpenSea executives[3][5]. The platform ingests real-time data from on-chain and off-chain sources, automatically tags utility instances (e.g., access rights, offers), and maintains a structured registry as a "source of truth" for the evolving digital object landscape, serving blockchain and NFT ecosystems[3][5]. It targets developers, traders, and platforms needing real-time insights into NFT opportunities, addressing the problem of fragmented, dynamic digital asset data in a market where utility tracking is essential for value discovery and transactions[3].
Growth momentum includes an invite-only beta for its discovery platform launched post-funding, aimed at accelerating operations amid blockchain trends, with inclusion in CB Insights' Blockchain expert collection signaling ecosystem recognition[3].
Lasso Labs emerged in 2022 amid the NFT and blockchain boom, founded by a team focused on solving data fragmentation in digital assets[3]. While specific founder names are not detailed in available sources, the company quickly secured $4.2M in seed VC funding about three years ago (circa 2022), led by Electric Capital and backed by prominent web3 investors like Ethereal Ventures, Village Global, Sriram Krishnan, and OpenSea contributors[3]. The idea stemmed from the need for foundational datasets in the "digital domain," particularly mapping volatile NFT utilities like access rights or offers, which were previously hard to track across sources[3][5]. Early traction came via the funding round and beta program announcement, positioning it as a utility registry on Ethereum blockchain tech[3][5].
Lasso Labs rides the persistent NFT and blockchain data infrastructure wave, where digital assets' value hinges on verifiable utilities amid market volatility and regulatory scrutiny[3]. Timing aligns with post-2022 crypto maturation, as NFTs evolve from hype to utility-driven assets (e.g., access tokens, royalties), demanding robust data layers—Lasso fills this by automating discovery in a fragmented ecosystem[3][5]. Market forces like Ethereum's scalability upgrades and rising on-chain activity favor it, reducing reliance on centralized oracles. It influences the ecosystem by enabling better trading, dApp development, and investor decisions, potentially standardizing NFT metadata as a foundational dataset provider[3].
Lasso Labs is poised to expand its beta into a full-fledged API and dashboard suite, capitalizing on web3 data demands as AI-blockchain intersections grow (e.g., predictive utility analytics). Trends like tokenized real-world assets and layer-2 scaling will amplify its registry's role, potentially evolving influence toward multi-chain support or enterprise integrations. With strong VC backing and blockchain momentum, it could become a key primitive for digital asset markets, tying back to its core mission of mapping the "ever-changing landscape" for sustained relevance[3][5].
Lasso Labs has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Seed in October 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2022 | $4M Seed | — | 20VC, 43, Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT Ventures, C2 Investment, Caffeinated Capital, Correlation Ventures, Draper Associates, Heretic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SciFi VC, Seven Seven SIX, Trajectory Ventures, Weekend Fund, Worklife Ventures, Anthony Pompliano, Baron Davis, Fidji Simo, Jeremy YAP, John Collison, Kevin LIN, Mike Krieger, Scott Belsky, Steve Chen | Announced |
Lasso Labs has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Lasso Labs's investors include 20VC, 43, Andreessen Horowitz, BITKRAFT Ventures, C2 Investment, Caffeinated Capital, Correlation Ventures, Draper Associates, Heretic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SciFi VC, Seven Seven Six.
