Plant-based dairy producer Marvelous Foods secures $1.2m in funding

Plant-based dairy company Marvelous Foods has closed a $1.2 million funding round from investors including Lever VC.

Based in Beijing, Marvelous Foods serves the Chinese market. The company’s first product, Yeyo coconut yogurt, is targeted specifically at millennial women in the country’s first tier cities.

“There is enormous potential for plant-based dairy for everyone in China, and we are focusing on one target audience of opinion leaders in order to spearhead the adoption of this new category, and that is millennial women in China,” said Marvelous Foods founder and CEO, Christiana Zhu.

Marvelous Foods plans to use the new funds to expand its product portfolio and distribution. Investors in the round include Lever VC, Satori Capital, HBG and New Climate Ventures.

The company’s distribution footprint currently includes more than 90 outlets, and spans the foodservice, retail and e-commerce channels.

“There is a long history of traditional plant-based drinks like soy milk in China, but a lack of plant-based 2.0 dairy alternatives,” said co-founder and COO, Athena Zhu.

“Oatly has made a big impact on the plant-based milk category, but plant-based yogurt, ice cream and similar categories are still pretty much untouched. Yogurt in China is a $17 billion market, which presents a huge opportunity for high-quality plant-based products and brands to convert and capture.”

Nick Cooney, managing partner of Lever VC, added: “Given…[Marvelous Foods’] focus and understanding of the target consumer, we’re confident in their vision and capability to deliver tasty, healthy and innovative products that will have a real impact on the uptake of plant-based foods in China”.