Impossible Foods Raises $500 Million
Plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods announced today that it closed a $500 million funding round, bringing the company’s total capital raised to over $2 billion since it was founded in 2011. The round was led by Mirae Asset Global Investments, which also led the company’s $500 million round which closed in March 2020, in addition to participation by existing investors.
The company said the new funding will be directed towards a variety of growth opportunities including retail and supply chain expansion, continued portfolio development, advancement of its technology platforms and increased expansion to international markets.
“We’re fortunate to have great investors who believe in our long-term mission,” said Impossible Foods’ CFO David Borecky in a press release. “The latest round of funding allows us to further accelerate our product innovation and global expansion efforts as we continue to leverage the power of the food system to satisfy consumers and fight climate change.”
Impossible Foods was one of the first brands to emerge in the plant-based, alt-meat category and previously told NOSH its goal is to replace the use of animals in food production by 2035. According to an environmental impact study on its website conducted by environmental research firm Quantic and Impossibles’ Head of Impact Strategy Rebekah Moses, one Impossible Beef burger requires 87% less water, 89% less greenhouse gas emissions and 96% less land to produce than a conventional beef burger.
Over the past year, the company has been driving growth across alt-meat categories with new plant-based products including sausages, chicken nuggets, pork varieties and most recently, plant-based meatballs which launched exclusively at Walmart last week. According to the California-based company, Impossible has also reached four new international markets over the past 14 months including Canada, United Arab Emirates, Australia and New Zealand.
In its funding announcement, Impossible touted its position as the fastest-growing plant-based meat company in retail, citing “custom IRI research analyzing U.S. dollar sales for the most recent 13-week period compared to one year ago.”
This latest capital raise comes only three months after Impossible Foods named Borecky as its permanent CFO amid ongoing rumors of a potential public offering. Borecky previously held senior-level finance positions at Square Inc. prior to its IPO. In an April report from Reuters, an unnamed source said the company was exploring the possibility of a public offering or an SPAC merger within the following 12 months. The report stated that an IPO would value the company at over $10 billion and noted at the time of its March 2020 private equity raise it was valued at $4 billion.
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the company’s upcoming growth plans.
However, the results of chief competitor Beyond Meat’s recently announced Q3 earnings could change the market’s appetite for another alt-meat IPO.
Beyond Meat dropped its expected revenue from between $120 to $140 million down to $106 million and reported an overall decline in its retail and foodservice businesses due to a variety of factors including slowing demand due to increased competition in the plant-based meat category and supply chain challenges such as labor shortages and shipping delays. Looking toward 2022, the publicly-traded company said it is “cautiously optimistic,” and will continue expanding its business globally with new marketing campaigns, sales and innovation.
