US – Nature’s Fynd, a food-tech company that develops microbe-based proteins for meat has raised a further US$45 million to accelerate commercialization of its novel meat protein alternative developed from fungi.
According to a report by FooBev, Nature’s Fynd latest financing round was comprised of venture debt and equipment financing commitments from Oxford Finance and Trinity Capital.
The Chicago-based start-up has also hired a number of industry veterans, in order to accelerate its go-to-market strategy.
The new additions bring over 60 years of combined experience from companies such as ADM, Cargill, Bel Brands USA and Kind Snacks.
Former VP of food research at ADM, Baljit Singh Ghotra, will join the company as SVP of food innovation, while Emilie Runac has been appointed director of manufacturing after 16 years at Bel Brands USA.
Former Kind Snacks employee Pat Dalugdug will take on the role as director of sales, while Tom Frey will serve as director of project engineering.
Frey brings with him 16 years of experience at Cargill, most recently as engineering manager and will use his extensive fermentation experience to continue scaling production for the commercial launch of Fy.
Co-founder and CEO of Nature’s Fynd, Thomas Jonas, said: “Today, we’ve announced the hiring of several top food industry experts who will significantly advance the commercial success of our products.”
8 years after it was founded, Natures Fynd is looking to gear up the 2021 launch of its nutritional fungi protein Fy.
Fy is produced from a microbe known as Fusarium strain flavolapis which is sourced from volcanic springs and can be used to make alternative meat and dairy products.
The company has been working on its products through out the years, attracting funding from a diverse group of financiers including federal agencies such as Nasa and venture capital funds backed by the likes of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Al Gore and Richard Branson.
Natures Fynd says that the latest financing round will enable it to accelerate its market strategies, introduce more product offerings and ensure optimal capital efficiency.
The US$45m ticket takes the company’s total funding to date to US$158 million, after it raised US$80 million in a Series B funding round in March and US$33 million last year.
“Using Fy, our nutritional fungi protein, we’ve made foods that contain a complete protein and have an extremely low carbon footprint,” Jonas said.
“Now Nature’s Fynd needs to bring these delicious foods to market so we can all be part of the solution to climate change.”
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