Impossible Foods receives $300m in Series E funding round

Impossible Foods, the creator of plant-based meat alternatives such as the Impossible Burger, has raised $300 million in a Series E Funding Round, increasing the company’s value to around $2 billion.

The Series E round was led by existing investors Temasek and Horizons Ventures, and takes the total funding raised by Impossible Foods since its inception to $750 million.

In a statement, Impossible Foods claimed that the latest funding round follows “unprecedented demand” for the company’s meat alternatives, following the recent launch of the Impossible Burger in major chains such as Burger King, Red Robin and White Castle.

Impossible Foods also entered the Singaporean market in March 2019, and sales in Asia have increased “more than three­fold” since the company entered the market. In Asia, the Impossible Burger is sold in a wide range of restaurants throughout Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau.

With demand outstripping supply, the company will use the funding to add a third shift and a second full production line to help increase its capacity, partially in anticipation of the launch of the Impossible Burger in retail outlets later this year.

Impossible Foods is looking to hire at least 50 new employees at its plant in Oakland, California, which already employs about 70 full­time workers.

Impossible Foods’ meat substitutes are made directly from plants. The company’s flagship product, the Impossible Burger, is made with a combination of plant-based ingredients including soy leghemoglobin, a protein that carries heme, a molecule that occurs naturally in animals and plants.

The company claims that the heme in its burgers delivers ‘all the craveable depth of beef’, but uses far fewer resources in production.

David Lee, chief financial officer for Impossible Foods said: “We have cracked the molecular code for meat and built an industry­-leading intellectual property portfolio and brand.

“Our global financial partners are supporting a technology powerhouse that will transform the global food system.”