USA – Goldman Sachs Group has invested US$65 million in Ripple Foods, a company that deals in making nutritious alternative to dairy milk that is 100% dairy-free, vegan, nut-free, lactose-free and gluten-free.

In addition to the funding from Goldman Sachs, the company obtained other funding from Khosla Ventures, Fall Line Capital and S2G Ventures bringing the total funding to US$110 million.

The funding, which was mobilized by Euclidean Capital was meant to finance plant-based product lines which are gaining quick momentum in the American food market.

Ripple Foods has invested in dairy replacements joining other industrial players such as Memphis Meats who are focusing on developing meat and poultry products from cultured animal cells.

As a number of customers are partly or completely turning away from consumption of cow’s milk and other animal products, Ripple Foods has stepped in by providing nutritious and tasty drinks by utilizing yellow peas.

Sale of Ripple Foods’ Ripptein gives it room to focus on the proteinous drink which allegedly contains less sugar than cow’s milk, free of common allergens and provides similar amounts of protein like that of dairy.

Since their entrance into the market in 2015, Ripple Foods beverages are found in stores such as Kroger, Target and Whole Foods Market.

The beverages provide consumers with a nutritious diet boasting 8 grams of protein per cup -the same as a cup of cow’s milk- compared with 1 gram of protein in a cup of almond milk.

“We’re taking a stand against dairy alternatives that are thin, chalky, or anything less than delicious.

When you choose dairy free, you shouldn’t have to give up great taste.

That’s why we’ve made Ripple dairy free, as it should be: a great source of protein, lower in sugar and most importantly, rich, creamy and delicious,” said Kathy Elsesser, the investment bank’s global chair of consumer retail and health-care groups.

Recently, Memphis Meats also received investment from Tyson Foods in a venture to eliminate the use of animal-sourced protein in their products.