Ukko
Safer Proteins for People with Food Allergies and Sensitivities
Company Overview
Snapshot
Founded in May 2016 by Yanay Ofran and Anat Binur, Ukko operates with 51–200 employees. The company has raised $47.7 million across 3 funding rounds from 11 investors.
Business overview
Ukko is an Agriculture & Food Technologies company focused on improving the lives of individuals with food allergies and sensitivities. The company leverages immunology, machine learning, and protein engineering to develop safer proteins for food and therapeutic applications. Ukko's technology designs and controls molecular interactions between allergen proteins and the immune system, using patient samples and AI to engineer proteins that retain beneficial properties while avoiding immune responses. Its product pipeline includes celiac-safe gluten proteins and allergy-safe peanut proteins, targeting the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Strategic signal
In November 2025, an article from TheMarker highlighted Ukko's potential solution for life-threatening food allergies, suggesting that the Israeli startup has found a way to address a critical health concern. This signals strong validation of Ukko's innovative approach and its potential to significantly impact the food and health sectors by offering safer food options and therapeutics.
Company Intelligence Q&A
- What is Ukko's core mission?
- Ukko's mission is to improve the lives of people with food allergies and sensitivities by developing measurably better and safer proteins for use in food and therapeutics.
- When was Ukko founded and by whom?
- Ukko was founded in May 2016 by Yanay Ofran and Anat Binur.
- What was a significant funding event for Ukko?
- In January 2021, Ukko received funding from investors including lead investor Leaps by Bayer and Khosla Ventures, to develop solutions for food allergies and sensitivities.
- What is Ukko's approach to protein engineering?
- Ukko uses immunology, machine learning, and protein engineering to design and control the molecular interactions between allergen proteins and the immune system, creating superior proteins that do not trigger an immune response.
- What are some of Ukko's initial product pipeline focuses?
- Ukko's initial product pipeline includes celiac-safe gluten proteins and allergy-safe and therapeutic peanut proteins.