April the the 9th, 2022 - The Croatian longevity food tech startup Cidrani has received investments from some big Croatian IT names, including the person behind the wildly successful Photomath.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian longevity food tech startup Cidrani recently presented a new investment round worth 190,000 euros within the Bird incubator, under the auspices of which it has been operating for the last year.

New investors in Cidrani are some very well-known Croatian IT and business names, including the founders of Five, Luka Abrus and Viktor Marohnic, the founder of Photomath Damir Sabor, private equity and venture capital investment expert Mirna Marovic, financial expert specialising in the IT industry and EU grants Tajana Barancic and serial entrepreneurs and business angels Maja and Jonathan Cooper.

Cidrani has imposed a unique concept of organic fermented micronutrients for the health of the digestive microbiome which, if taken as a daily ritual over a long period of time, significantly reduce inflammatory processes in the body and contribute to healthier longevity.

They want to conquer the American market

In terms of revenue, Cidrani is growing at an annual rate of eight times, and their goal is to become the top longevity company in the world. They were the first to introduce personalisation and a monthly subscription to fermented micro-beverages, and in addition to numerous private users, more than ten companies have already included their employees in the community of Cidrani enthusiasts of healthy digestion.

"This year we intend to enter all European markets and enter the large US market. We plan to participate in as many as five of the strongest food fairs, and we're launching our own scientific clinical study, which will further confirm the impact of fermented micro-beverages on general health. We're also working intensively on the development of artificial intelligence (AI), the foundation of a virtual assistant that will support our customers on the path to health and longevity,'' said co-founder Bruno Balen.

Investors Luka Abrus, Mirna Marovic, Tajana Barancic, Maja Jelisic Cooper and the co-founder of Cidrani Nika Pintar revealed at a recently held panel some of their personal and professional reasons behind why they decided to invest in Cidrani, and also talked about the general principles of investing and attracting investments.

The investment of 190,000 euros from some big Croatian IT and business names in Cidrani represents the so-called ''bridge round'' of this progressive startup, which is announcing a new investment cycle at the end of the summer, in order to conquer the US market and further develop machine learning algorithms.

For more, check out our business section.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marta Duic writes on the 4th of October, 2020, Nika Pintar and Bruno Balen, the founders of the Croatian startup Cidrani, presented the Niksen brand to the market - it is an instant cold brew coffee powder, 1.5 espresso. It is a Croatian startup that has a vision to make every food a superfood, and the team currently has five employees and about twenty external associates. Cidrani has been around since last year, and in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, they launched their very first products on the market.

No sugar needed

''Niksen is a wellbeing concept for stress prevention, and we draw inspiration for Niksen from our lifestyle, daily training and learning about the latest trends in the world of functional food, the optimisation of mental performance and longevity. We see the quality of tomorrow's diet as a necessary fuel so that we can start working towards realising our greatest potential right now. That's why we're the first to bring instant cold brew coffee powder to the European market, and what sets Niksen Cold Brew apart from other coffees is that it is soluble in cold water, which makes it easy to use and adapted to today's hectic, urban lifestyle. In addition, research shows that cold brew coffee is easier on the body due to its cold brewing process, which lasts up to 16 hours, as a result, it is even up to 70 percent less acidic and therefore sits better when in the stomach. This is also felt in the taste, which is dominated by caramel and chocolate notes, which don't require the addition of sugar. Cidrani's Niksen Cold Brew has been on the market for less than two months, and we're achieving a monthly growth of about 300 percent. By the end of the year, we expect a presence in more than 200 locations in Croatia, with our primary focus being on market education,'' explained Pintar and Balen.

Along with Cold Brew, Niksen also offers Nut-Hazel organic snacks made of hazelnuts and the first Croatian Nootropics, natural food supplements with complex formulas that are a combination of plant extracts, vitamins and minerals. The raw materials, they say, are chosen according to the criterion of excellence, and Niksen Cold Brew coffee blend is a premium coffee from Colombia and Ethiopia and is bottled in Croatia. It can be bought on theirr web shop and in specialised stores.

''Our goal is to produce 300,000 coffees a year, which we plan to achieve in a year and by launching five new flavour variations that will come to be by the end of the year. We started with the Croatian market, but we've already started expanding to Europe, with a focus on the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland, given that these countries are at the top of the list in terms of annual coffee consumption by population. We've already exported the first lot to the Netherlands and Sweden and started a soft launch on those markets. We're members of the Amsterdam Kitchen Republic Community, thanks to which we have the opportunity to present ourselves to the leading retail and HoReCa chains in the Netherlands, which we're actively working on and we expect the first collaborations by the end of the year. Furthermore, we're part of the Future of Food regional cluster of startups for export to the USA, within which we're preparing for the development of markets outside of Europe in cooperation with mentors from the American functional food industry,'' revealed Cidrani's Pintar and Balen.

They also mentioned a number of advantages for cafes, restaurants and hotels. For example, the shelf life of their cold brew is 18 months, it doesn't require a cold chain during transport or storage, unlike regular cold brew coffee, and it can be added to cocktails, juices and smoothies in an instant. Packaging in disposable bags at the same time saves electricity consumption and facilitates preparation so that it doesn't require a cooker or the extra time and human capital required by room service.

''The plan is to expand the line with functional powders based on plant extracts for strong cognitive performance and inner beauty, thus creating coffee-based beverages that are also dietary supplements. We believe that the cosmetics of the future will be our diet and this is the basis of our philosophy of choosing only high-quality ingredients with a proven beneficial effect on the body. At the 17th Progressive Conference on October the 21st at the Esplanade Hotel in Zagreb, Bruno will present a case study called How to start a successful business in times of global crisis - five principles of creating innovation, where he'll also present the vision of Niksen's development. Although we started with food products, we want to create an optimal and rounded holistic concept that includes nutrition, movement and education that encourage the development of creativity, cognitive performance and neurogenesis,'' concluded Cidrani's Pintar.

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August 21, 2020 – They focus on a high amount of micronutrients in products and traditional canning methods, primarily fermentation.

As Poslovni dnevnik writes, Nika Pintar and Bruno Balen are the founders of the Croatian startup called Cidrani, which has the vision to make every food a superfood. The team currently consists of four people, with about 20 external associates.

Cidrani was founded last year and launched its first products on the market in the middle of the corona crisis. In the first weeks of sales, they entered about 20 locations in Croatia, and they plan to have a minimum of 50 products by the end of the year.

They cooperate with dozens of subcontractors and procure raw ingredients according to quality criteria. Cidrani has seven products, of which the most sought after is Cidrani Honey – live apple cider vinegar with "wild mother“ culture infused with raw honey, and a novelty in their offer is Four Seasons, which could soon surpass Honey in terms of sales.

“With our Four Seasons gastro functional line, we have also been admitted to the SIAL Innovation prizes, one of the leading competitions for innovative functional food products in the world. Four Seasons is a unique concept that combines fermented herbs, raw honey, and apple cider vinegar in addition to dishes rich in probiotics, which is also a rhapsody for the palate because we believe that a healthy diet should attract with its taste,” Pintar and Balen point out.

Further plans

They will soon come out with another branch of Cidranija - Pharma, which will focus on the best from folk and traditional medicine, and it is a combination that includes extracts of Nordic mushrooms.

In addition to the webshop, their products can be found in specialized and health food stores, and by the end of the month, they should enter the chain of boutique stores from Istria. Their products can also be found in Zagreb’s restaurants Tač, Vodnjanka and Dubravkin put, and they plan to expand to the rest of Croatia and create recipes in collaboration with the best chefs and cocktail masters.

“We expect to be present at 500 locations in Croatia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands by the end of the year, combined through Ho-Re-Ca, retail, and specialized concept stores. Our sales are growing rapidly with 70% of repeat purchases. In the fall, we will realize the first seed investment, and the German investors with whom we are in negotiations consider us one of the most innovative food startups in Europe,” said the co-founders.

At the moment, they are doing everything in Croatia, but they are working on the new products that they are launching in September with partners in Bulgaria and Portugal.

“We came to the Netherlands for two months and we expect that by October at least 70 percent of sales will be realized outside Croatia,” said the co-founders adding that they also play to extend their market on Benelux countries, Scandinavia and DACH – Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

As they say, innovative products are just the beginning, and what they want is to open a wellbeing retreat center for cell regeneration and intergenerational education about a new lifestyle.

“The first such resort will be in Istria, but we would like to franchise the concept and expand to Switzerland, Ireland, and Sweden,” announce Nika Pintar and Bruno Balen.