I attended the Future FoodTech Summit this month and was delighted to hear from ambitious players across the industry. As an investor in plant-based egg replacement JUST Egg, it was exciting to hear about how the alternative protein industry is continuing to accelerate.
Here are some headlines from the Foodtech industry from the last month - March has been a particularly exciting time to be an investor in meat alternatives, both cellular and plant-based.
Global Alternative Protein Investment
This month, new data from the Good Food Institute has shown that global alternative protein investment tripled to US$3.1 billion in 2020. This is triple any investment seen in a single year in the industry’s history, and includes investments made in plant-based meats, egg, and dairy, cultivated meat and fermentation companies working on alternative proteins. This funding will facilitate further research and development, and enable more consumers to be able to access alternative protein products.
The Livekindly Collective
The Livekindly Collective, the parent company of many plant-based good brands, has closed its latest funding round at $335 million, by securing $103 billion of investment from TPG. The collective has plans to expand in both America and China. This is an extremely exciting development, and shows that investors are continually interested in plant-based food brands.
Meatable
Meatable, a Netherlands based foodtech startup, is pioneering ways to make real meat without the need to harm the environment or animals and hope to come to market in 2025. They take cells from an unharmed cow or pig, and they then use it to replicate the natural process of fat and muscle growth, mixing together their muscle and fat cells in proportions that emulate traditional cuts of meat. The potential of cellular based meats has been recognised, and they have secured $47 million of funding from BSM.
Sanatech Seed
Sanatech Seed, a Japanese startup, have announced the sale of their new tomato seeds, the first genome edited tomato to be brought to market. This variety contains high levels of an amino acid believed to aid relaxation and help lower blood pressure, and is the first of several varieties of tomato it plants to develop with enhanced nutritional benefits.
