Impossible Foods raises a further $200m in funding

Impossible Foods has secured $200 million in its latest funding round, taking the total funds raised by the meat alternative company to $1.5 billion since its founding in 2011.

The Series G round was led by New York-based Coatue, marking the hedge fund’s first investment in the company. It also included contributions from existing investors Mirae Asset Global Investments and Temasek as well as new investor XN. 

The funding comes less than six months after Impossible Foods raised approximately $500 million in what is claimed to be one of the largest investment rounds for a food tech startup.

Impossible Foods plans to use the capital to expand its research and development programmes, accelerate its manufacturing scaleup, increase its retail presence and international availability, and continue to develop new products.

In the past six months, the California-based company says it has set new sales and production records as its Impossible Burger has been made available in more than 8,000 grocery stores nationwide, representing a 60 times increase.

The Series G round also closely follows the launch of Impossible Sausage, the first all-new product from the startup since the Impossible Burger debuted in 2016. Since its debut, Impossible Sausage has become available in more than 22,000 restaurants.

To meet the increased demand, the food tech startup says it has “dramatically increased” its production capacity and has debuted its direct-to-consumer site.

“2020 has been a year of explosive growth for us, but this is just the beginning,” said David Lee, chief financial officer for Impossible Foods.

He added: “We plan to create plant-based upgrades for every major category of animal-derived food products. This investment will allow us to continue to develop and commercialise the technology that will enable that transformation.”