Impossible Foods has announced a $300 million funding round. The Series
E round was led by existing investors Temasek and Horizons Ventures.
The fifth equity funding round since Impossible Foods was launched in
2011 is intended to accelerate the company’s rapid scaleup — including
accelerated hiring and capacity expansion at the company’s plant in
Oakland, Calif. In total, the industry-leading food-tech startup has
raised more than $750 million.
In addition to blue-chip institutional investors, the Series E round
includes individual investors including: Jay Brown, Kirk Cousins, Paul
George, JAY-Z, Trevor Noah, Alexis Ohanian, Kal Penn, Katy Perry,
Questlove, Ruby Rose, Phil Rosenthal, Jaden Smith, Serena
Williams, will.i.am and Zedd.
“We have cracked the molecular code for meat and built an
industry-leading intellectual property portfolio and brand,” said David
Lee, Chief Financial Officer for Impossible Foods. “Our global financial
partners are supporting a technology powerhouse that will transform the
global food system.”
Scorching demand
The latest funding round comes amid unprecedented demand for the
company’s flagship product, the plant-based Impossible Burger, which
debuted at some of America’s best restaurants in 2016.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show in January 2019,
Impossible Foods launched
the award-winning
and “shockingly
good” Impossible Burger 2.0 — the company’s first
significant product upgrade. The Impossible Burger, the first food
ever featured at CES’ roster of game-changing technologies, won
the show’s top prizes.
Since January, Impossible Foods has recorded intense growth in every
sales category in which it does business — independent restaurants,
large restaurant chains such as White Castle and Qdoba, and
non-commercial outlets such as theme parks, museums, stadiums, and
college campuses. The Impossible Burger is now sold in more than 7,000
restaurants on two continents. In many restaurants, it is a top-selling
item and a key driver of new foot traffic.
America’s largest “better burger” franchise, Red Robin, launched
the Impossible Burger last month at nearly 500 restaurants
nationwide. Also in April, the world’s second largest burger chain,
Burger King, debuted
the Impossible Whopper in a regional test in St. Louis. The 59-unit
regional test of the Impossible Whopper at Burger King restaurants in
St. Louis has gone exceedingly
well; the Miami-based restaurant chain intends to bring
the Impossible Whopper to all 7,200 U.S. restaurants at the end of
2019.
In addition to an increasing number of restaurants that sell the
Impossible Burger, chefs are expanding the number of items made from the
versatile plant-based meat, with average per-store volume increasing.
Since launching in Singapore in March 2019, sales have increased in Asia
more than three-fold. Impossible is sold in a wide range of restaurants
and cuisines throughout Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau.
Impossible Foods plans to launch the Impossible Burger in retail outlets
later this year.
Designed to disrupt, built to scale
Founded in 2011 by Stanford biochemistry professor and former
pediatrician Dr. Patrick O. Brown, Impossible Foods makes
meat from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than
meat from animals. The company uses modern science and technology to
create wholesome food, restore natural ecosystems, and feed a growing
population sustainably. Read
Brown’s blog to learn more about the company’s mission.
With demand outstripping supply, Impossible Foods is looking to hire at
least 50 new employees at its plant in Oakland, Calif., which already
employs about 70 full-time workers. The company is adding a third shift
and a second full line of production to help increase its capacity this
year. Please see the
Impossible Foods’ job site to learn about a wide variety of openings.
On Monday, Impossible Foods announced
the hiring of tech industry veteran Sheetal Shah as Senior Vice
President, Product and Operations, overseeing numerous functions
including manufacturing, supply chain and logistics. Shah was previously
Chief Operations Officer at Verifone. Before that he served as Chief
Procurement Officer and numerous leadership roles at Motorola Mobility,
a $10 billion mobile device company acquired by Google.
Since its founding, Impossible Foods intentionally designed a robust
supply chain that is highly scalable, with products sourced from
abundant plant crops. Impossible Foods has a clear, long-term roadmap to
exponentially expand capacity, and the Series E funding will accelerate
the scaleup.
The company’s goal is to eliminate the need for animals in the food
chain by 2035. To achieve continued breakout growth, Impossible Foods is
actively planning to add to and diversify its manufacturing capacity.
The company will provide additional details on expansion plans later
this year.
About Impossible™ Foods:
Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Impossible Foods makes delicious,
nutritious meat and dairy products from plants — with a much smaller
environmental footprint than meat from animals. The privately held
company was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., Professor
Emeritus of Biochemistry at Stanford University and a former Howard
Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Investors include Khosla
Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking
Global Investors, Temasek, Sailing Capital, and Open Philanthropy
Project.
More information:
impossiblefoods.com
www.twitter.com/impossiblefoods
www.facebook.com/impossiblefoods
www.instagram.com/impossible_foods
Media kit:
www.impossiblefoods.com/media
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