Australian plant-based meat start-up V2food has raised AUD 35 million ($24 million) in a Series A funding round led by Main Sequence Ventures and Horizons Ventures.
V2food officially launched in October this year, releasing its first product, the Rebel Whopper, in partnership with Australian fast food franchise Hungry Jack’s, which is part of the Burger King Corporation.
The company, which was co-founded by former Masterfoods and PepsiCo research director Nick Hazell, worked with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO to create products that “look like meat, cook like meat and taste like meat”. Made from legumes, the ‘mince’ contains added fibre and nutrients.
Hazell, now founder and CEO of V2food, commented: “This is an important step towards V2food’s goal of transforming the way the world produces food. There is a big shortfall between the amount of meat we produce today and the amount needed to feed the growing global population. There will be nearly 10 billion people on Earth by 2050. Our mission is clear — to provide everyday people with plant-based meat that tastes great and is good for the environment. It’s imperative that we scale quickly because these global issues need immediate solutions and we are fortunate to have secured these outstanding global partners to help propel us forward.”
Other investors include the Fairfax Family investment fund Marinya Capital and leading venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China. According to V2food, the funding will be used to expand the start-up’s research and development efforts. Plans include the construction of a new research and production facility, which is expected to begin operation in regional Australia in 2020.
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