Next Gen, a Singapore-headquartered plant-based foodtech startup, announced today it has closed a US$10 million seed round from a clutch of investors, including Temasek and K3 Ventures.
The New Ventures arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, NX Food, FEBE Ventures, and Blue Horizon also participated.
According to data from Pitchbook, this deal marks the largest-ever seed round raised for a plant-based foodtech company.
According to Next Gen, the fresh financing will be used for the global launch of its plant-based chicken consumer brand TiNDLE in Singapore, scheduled for March 2021. A portion of the capital will also go towards fuelling expansion efforts across Asia and supporting R&D of new plant-based products.
Next Gen was co-founded by Timo Recker and Andre Menezes in October 2020. The duo personally invested US$2.2 million into the company from the get-go. Recker is the founder and former CEO of German plant-based meat company LikeMeat while Menezes was the General Manager of Country Foods Singapore.
Also Read: Conscious consumption is driving the trend in foodtech: Study
The company said that roadmap for the next two years include raising Series A funding, diversifying its products and expanding into Europe and the US. It is already laying the groundwork in the latter by recruiting a Growth Director who will build a network of distributors, restaurants and chefs.
Next Gen’s first consumer product is TiNDLE Thy, a plant-based alternative to a chicken thigh. The startup claims the product has been created directly with chefs, offering high protein, high fibre and low carb. It is also free of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and natural cholesterol.
Plant-based meat has seen strong demand in the West and is now also gaining momentum in Asia. Alternative protein startups within the region raised US$230 million in 2020 alone, close to 4 times the amount raised in the preceding three years combined.
Last year, local cell-based crustacean meat company, Shiok Meats, raised US$12.6 million in its Series A round to build a first-of-its-kind commercial pilot plant, from which it plans to launch its minced shrimp product in 2022. Meanwhile, TurtleTree Labs closed its US$6.2 million pre-Series A round to accelerate the R&D of its cell-based human milk.
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Image Credit: Next Gen
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