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© Planet A Foods

Women in Tech: Sara Marquart

Planet A Foods aims to change food production sustainably. To this end, Sara Marquart, together with her brother Maximilian Marquart, has developed the world's first cocoa-free chocolate ChoViva developed that uses regional ingredients such as oats and sunflower seeds instead of cocoa, thus having a CO2 footprint up to 90 percent lower than conventional chocolate. Chocolate is At Planet A Foods, however, this is just the beginning: Next, the startup wants to focus on other ingredients such as a substitute for cocoa butter.

Sara Marquart received her doctorate in food chemistry from the Technical University of Munich. She subsequently worked as a curator at the Deutsches Museum, as a researcher for Atomo Coffee in the USA, and published numerous publications. In 2021, she founded Planet A Foods together with her brother.

March 6, 2024 5 min reading time

Munich Startup: Sara, what motivated you to start your business?

Sara Marquart, Co-Founder and CTO at Planet A Foods: I've always been fascinated by developing products, in other words, making something that you can touch at the end of the day. This has been a constant throughout my career, from my doctoral thesis to my time as a curator, where I was able to create my own exhibition that was subsequently visited by several hundred thousand people, to my work in the food industry in the US and Switzerland.

Step by step you learn and grow

Munich Startup: What would you have liked to have known before starting your first business?

Sara Marquart: I think it's like with many things. It's easier afterwards than you thought. As a human being, you're always thinking, "How do I do this, how do I approach this whole thing?" – whether it's starting a business or making other decisions in life. And then it turns out that you take one step at a time, learning and growing along the way.

Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?

Sara Marquart: Planet A Foods is venture capital funded – we just announced our Series A financing round of $15.4 million in February. Series A round The investment is led by the climate-tech venture capital firm World Fund, and other venture capital firms such as Cherry Ventures and Omnes Capital have also participated. We intend to use the investment primarily to scale our cocoa-free chocolate ChoViva into new markets outside of Germany and to expand our technology platform to include other food products, such as cocoa butter substitutes.

Tip: Simply follow through with the pitch

Munich Startup: When and where do you get the best ideas?

Sara Marquart: While driving or taking a walk—whenever I can let my mind wander a bit and have time to reflect. Or, in many cases, during creative exchanges with my team or my brother Max.

Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?

Sara Marquart: Phew, I would say: Excel, Python and ChatGPT.

Munich Startup: Your top tip on pitching?

Sara Marquart: Don't listen to the excitement and just get through it. Everyone gets nervous when they present in front of people. It doesn't get much better; you just get used to the feeling of excitement. Whether you're speaking in front of two people or 15,000, the end result for me is almost the same these days.

Sara Marquart: “We need startups and innovation if we want to progress as humanity.”

Munich Startup: Does this seem like a good time to start a business? Why?

Sara Marquart: It's always a good time to start a business because there are so many opportunities and possibilities to advance our society as a whole. It's secretly in our human nature to constantly innovate: from the first brewing of beer thousands of years ago to the invention of binoculars and cars. In other words: We need startups and innovation if we want to progress as humanity. Of course, Financing options and availability have been better, but also worse. With a good product and a good idea, you're sure to find someone who believes in you.

Munich Startup: Which technology or industry would you focus on for your next startup?

Sara Marquart: I find food fascinating, and I come from the food industry. Perhaps next time, I'd like to pursue something in chemistry, tech, or software. We'll see; I have a few ideas on my notebook. Besides that, and I think this also counts as a startup, I'd really like to do more with my hands. For example, in agriculture, perhaps with my own vineyard and winery.

Bureaucracy in Germany: Horror

Munich Startup: In your opinion, what could be improved at the Munich startup location?

Sara Marquart: Munich is already a top ecosystem for tech startups. We're a strong location for software, IT, biotech, chemistry, and medicine, thanks to the fact that we have leading universities like Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich, each with an excellent talent pool. But the bureaucracy in Germany and Bavaria is generally horrendous! And we could expect a bit more support from the state and federal government to help young minds in this country start up businesses. Especially financially, as other countries do.

Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?

Sara Marquart: Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. I find both very fascinating and, at least in public, perceived as humble personalities. I'd love to learn more about their founding stories and their learnings, what they would do now and what they would do differently next time, and how they balanced work and family.

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