Foreverland, the Italian startup making a carob-based alternative to chocolate, has raised €6 million in a new funding round, bringing its total capital raised to €9.4 million.
The round includes follow-on investment from seed backers Kost Capital and Maia Ventures, alongside new investment from CDP Venture Capital, Linfa, the agrifoodtech fund managed by Riello Investimenti SGR, and Newtree Impact, the Brussels-based food and agriculture VC.
Foreverland's commercial timing is tied to a structural problem in the global cocoa market that shows no signs of resolving. Cocoa prices rose more than 300% between 2022 and 2024, driven by climate-related crop failures in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, which together supply roughly two-thirds of the world's cocoa.
Supply instability has put sustained pressure on confectionery manufacturers' margins and production schedules, and created a genuine commercial opening for alternatives that can be produced at industrial scale with predictable pricing.
Foreverland's answer is Choruba, an ingredient made from carob, pumpkin seeds, and chickpeas grown in the Mediterranean. The company's own life-cycle assessment puts Choruba's water consumption at 90% less than cocoa's, and its CO₂ emissions at 83% lower than conventional dark chocolate, figures that carry independent credibility because the company commissioned a full LCA rather than relying on internal estimates.
Choruba is protected by two patents and replicates the taste and functionality of chocolate closely enough to work in existing confectionery production lines without equipment changes, which Massimo Sabatini, co-founder and CEO, has consistently cited as the key to industrial adoption.
The company was founded in 2023 in Bari by Sabatini, Riccardo Bottiroli, Giuseppe D'Alessandro, and Massimo Brochetta, and has moved quickly from lab to scale. Its Puglia production facility, opened in October 2025, can produce 500 tonnes of Choruba annually.
It has obtained IFS Food certification, the standard most large European food manufacturers require of ingredient suppliers before sourcing, and has signed four European confectionery partnerships, with more in the pipeline. Current commercial markets are Italy and Germany, with France and the Nordic region identified as the next expansion targets.
“With IFS Food certification in place and demand accelerating, we're scaling commercial growth across Europe, strengthening key partnerships, and bringing in senior talent from the cocoa and chocolate industry to support manufacturers at scale,” Sabatini said in a statement accompanying the announcement.
The new capital will fund that hiring, specifically commercial talent with backgrounds in cocoa and confectionery, alongside the European expansion, deeper partnerships with major confectionery players, and the development of an organic cocoa-free line to address a growing segment of the market.
The organic line is a meaningful addition: IFS Food certification and organic credentials together cover the two most common procurement requirements among European confectionery manufacturers looking to diversify their cocoa exposure.
The investor composition reflects the round's industrial logic. Linfa, Riello Investimenti SGR's debut AgriFoodTech fund launched in 2024 with €65 million in committed capital and European Investment Fund backing, invests specifically in late-stage agri-food innovators with strong process, product, or sustainability credentials, Foreverland fits the brief tightly.