Nature's Fynd
Nature's Fynd CEO CEO Thomas Jonas
- Nature's Fynd, a startup seeking to bring a 'super protein' to the alt-meat market, raised $80 million in a Series B round on Tuesday.
- Breakthrough Energy Ventures, founded by Bill Gates, and General Investment Management, founded by Al Gore, led the round.
- The protein's origins lie in a NASA-backed research project, Yellowstone National Park, and a process not unlike brewing beer. It's technically not a plant, and it's technically not a protein, giving it certain advantages over competitors like Impossible Foods or Beyond Meat.
- Nature's Fynd CEO Thomas Jonas said it planned to use the funding to help it bring Fy-based products to the market within the next 12 months.
- "With one pound of sugar, we are able to make two tons of meat-like product," Jonas said. "And we can do that using a fraction of the resources."
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
There's a new type of meat in town, and it could be a game-changer in the alt-meat industry.
Nature's Fynd, a Chicago-based alt-meat startup, announced that it raised $80 million to help it take its so-called "super-protein," called Fy, from the research lab to the market. Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Generation Investment Management LLP - funds founded by Bill Gates and Al Gore, respectively - co-led the round.
Nature's Fynd previously raised $33 million in Series A funding, back when it was known as Sustainable Bioproducts. Its latest announcement is coupled the new company name, which was changed in order to incorporate the name of the new protein into the brand.
The Fy protein is neither plant-based nor animal; instead, its origins lie in the volcanic hot springs in Yellowstone National Park.
During the course of a NASA-backed research project, Mark Kozubal (now the startup's chief science officer), discovered a unique strain of microorganism, which is the primary ingredient to manufacturing Fy. Nature's Fynd uses these microbes to builds its new protein, using a fermentation process similar to brewing beer.
As Nature's Fynd CEO Thomas Jonas points out, while the startup's technology is unique, the notion of using fermented microbes to create food has plenty of historical precedent.
"We've been using microorganisms forever," Jonas said. "Without fermentation, in my home country of France, there would be no wine and no cheese and it would be very bad."
As for taste, a big part of developing the new alt-meat was to ensure that it had no particular flavor, Jonas told Business Insider, comparing it to baking or steaming chicken without any seasoning. That's in stark contrast to competitors like Impossible Foods or Beyond Meat, which built their businesses on replicating the taste of beef.
"A big part of the development of the technology was actually to get to a taste which was very neutral, because in reality, protein in animal cooking as well do not have much taste of flavor," Jonas said. "It's really the seasoning or the fat or the treatment of the protein where you get the flavor."
The startup recently opened its production warehouse - ironically in Chicago's historic meatpacking district - and plans to sell Fy to local retailers within the next year, a timeframe that has not yet been delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.
"We are currently having discussion with retailers on bringing this product to sell food in the next 12 months," Jonas said.
The alt-meat market's growing popularity
A growing population and increased attention to protein's role in good health has built up the meat (and alt-meat) market's popularity.
But for those looking to consume more sustainably, ordinary animal meat's environmental footprint is disproportionately big. Just one ounce of beef requires over 100 gallons of water to make. If you're raising cattle on a farm, both the cows and the factories that eventually turn them into beef produce greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
As consumers become increasingly aware of the vast environmental impact of the industrial meat complex, demands for plant-based and lab-grown meat companies have picked up.
And the alt-meat sector is a hot new space for investors. Plant-based meat company Impossible Foods announced it raised about $500 million in its latest round last week. And valuations for late-stage food-tech companies skyrocketed to a high of $233.4 million in 2019 according to a recent report issued by Pitchbook and Finistere.
Nature's Fynd's unique protein, Fy, has a dramatically lower environmental impact than animal protein, using a tenth of the land, water or greenhouse gas emissions needed to produce similar amounts of animal meat. But Jonas also makes the argument for the industry's ability to scale production at much higher rate than possible with plant-based protein startups.
"With one pound of sugar, we are able to make two tons of meat-like product," Jonas said. "And we can do that using a fraction of the resources."
The startup was able to keep operating under circumstances that would be challenging to farmers, Jonas added. "Unlike agricultural crops, we're not dependent on rain or sun or any kind of weather issues," Jonas said.