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The company behind Hungry Jack's new plant-based Whopper just secured $35 million in Series A funding
v2food has secured $35 million in Series A funding, which the company claims is the largest for the plant-based meat sector in Australia to date.
The company launched in Australia in October and helped create the patty for Hungry Jack's plant-based burger, The Rebel Whopper.
v2foods' backers include the CSIRO, Main Sequence Ventures and Competitive Foods Australia, the chairman of which is Hungry Jack's founder Jack Cowin.
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Plant-based meat startup v2food has nabbed a hefty investment.
The company raised $35 million in Series A funding, which it claims is the largest Series A investment round in the plant-based meat sector to date. The company came to this conclusion comparing its series A funding to other plant-based food businesses such as Impossible and Sunfed.
According to CrunchBase, Impossible secured $US9 million (A$13 million) in Series A funding back in 2011. New Zealand based Sunfed gained $NZ10 million (A$9.4 million), Smart Company reported.
v2food launched in October and creates products that look, cook and taste like meat. The main ingredients in its plant-based products are legumes, sunflower oil and coconut fat.
The company was also involved in the creation of Hungry Jack's new plant-based burger, the Rebel Whopper.
v2food had already received backing from Main Sequence Ventures, CSIRO and Competitive Foods Australia, the chairman of which is Hungry Jack's Founder Jack Cowin.
This latest funding round was led by Main Sequence Ventures, Horizons Ventures, Fairfax Family investment fund Marinya Capital and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China.
Horizons Ventures has also backed Impossible, famous for its plant-based meat, as well as Slack and Facebook.
The funding will be used to expand v2foods' research and design efforts including a new research and production facility which is set to begin operation in regional Australia in 2020.
"This is an important step towards v2food’s goal of transforming the way the world produces food," v2 Food Founder and CEO Nick Hazell said in a statement. "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."
The company also plans to use the funds to expand its footprint in Australia – it's even looking to unveil new plant-based meat products across the country over the next few months.
