Next Gen Foods Raises $100M to Push into U.S. Market

Despite launching during the COVID-19 pandemic, plant-based protein brand Next Gen Foods isn’t slowing down. The Singapore-based company announced today it has raised $100 million, in part to finance the launch of its plant-based chicken brand TiNDLE into the U.S.

“We’re really setting up the entire backbone of the company right now,” co-founder and CEO Andre Menezes said. “The whole objective here is to create this business from supply chain to R&D to developing our production capacities, here in the U.S.”

The round included Southeast Asian venture capital firm Alpha JWC, Singapore-based global investment fund EDBI and UK-based MPL Ventures. Also taking part were returning investors Temasek, through its Asia Sustainable Food Platform, GGV Capital, K3 Ventures and Bits x Bites. Since inception the company has raised just over $130 million.

Launched in spring 2021, TiNDLE is the first product offering from Next Gen Foods. Menezes brought a background in meat distribution, while co-founder Timo Recker had already started, and sold, a plant-based protein company. Together the two felt they could offer a never-seen-before option in the plant-based protein space.

“[Timo] has that upstream product technology perspective, with ingredient technology,” Menezes said. “[I] had the whole downstream, global distribution, brand perspective, go to market [strategy].

Unlike other chicken options which come pre-formed in a strip or nugget shape, TiNDLE is sold as a patty of what Menezes calls an “edible Play-Doh” made from nine non-GMO ingredients. With an ability to be shaped into numerous global chicken shapes, TiNDLE can be made into everything from curries to dumplings to fried chicken, he said. The taste is also different from many brands as it aims to replicate the dark meat of a thigh or wing rather than a leaner chicken breast.

The richer, fattier taste is an advantage, Menezes said.

“There are plenty of products that are not really chicken..as we understand chicken. What you can find in the market is basically chicken nuggets, and chicken tenders,” Menezes said. “But those are only side dishes and those are not things that usually excite chefs and create that center of the plate, great food experience as a main dish…[they are] genuinely excited about the product and what they can create with it.”

TiNDLE debuted in early 2020 in Singapore, and then quickly expanded to Hong Kong, Macau, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam.

The U.S. rollout will start with restaurant dishes in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Napa, New York, Miami and Philadelphia with Austin to come online in the near future. Restaurants can purchase TiNDLE via DOT Foods, local distributors, FoodServiceDirect.com, and, in San Francisco, through ecommerce ordering platform Cheetah. The company began with restaurants, Menezes said, as a means of driving trial.

To support the launch, Next Gen has built out a U.S.-based team, with Menezes himself temporarily living in Chicago. The company plans to expand into retail, most likely in 2023, but must first decide on product type, with everything from nuggets to ready-made meals under consideration.

Capital will also be used for further global expansion, most likely China or Brazil, as well as to continue building out its Singapore-based R&D facility. Though Next Gen currently produces and co-packs TiNDLE in the Netherlands, as it expands, Menezes expects they will have to bring other manufacturers online.

With Menezes himself from beef-loving Brazil, Next Gen has plans to expand into other proteins. Chicken, however, was simply the best starting point for the company, he added.

“We want it to be global… Chicken is the most universal protein,” Menezes said. “It’s really present in every single cuisine in the world.”