A veggie cheeseburger startup that Google tried to buy just raised $108 million

Impossible Foods Impossible Foods cheeseburger

Impossible Foods, a startup that wants to make veggie burgers and vegan cheeses, just raised a whopping $108 million round of funding, TechCrunch reports.

The startup is working to develop a plant-based cheeseburger.

Impossible Foods' goal is to make a burger that looks like a ground beef burger with cheese, and tastes like one, but is made out of plants instead of meat.

Impossible Foods is just one of several startups trying to reimagine the traditional burger with more affordable and sustainable plant-based alternatives.

Beyond Meat, which also sells a chicken substitute, is funded by Bill Gates and Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Brooklyn-based startup Modern Meadow grows fish, poultry, meat and leather in its labs from muscle cells.

Google reportedly made a bid to acquire for Impossible Foods, though it never came to fruition. Google offered between $200 million and $300 million, according to a report, but the two companies couldn't agree on a selling price.

Impossible Foods founder Dr. Patrick Brown, a former biochemistry professor at Stanford, previously founded a startup called Kite Hill, which uses almond milk and macadamia milk to create vegan artisan cheeses.

Previously, Impossible Foods reportedly raised $74 million in funding from Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures, and Google exec Tony Fadell. The new funding comes from a number of investors including Khosla, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Gates, and Horizons Ventures.

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