The Impossible Burger's creator could go public at a $10 billion valuation, report says

• Popular plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods is exploring going public at a $10 billion valuation, sources told Reuters.
• The California-based company is considering a public listing via an IPO or SPAC, Reuters reported.
• Shares in rival Beyond Meat are trading 400% higher than its IPO price in 2019.

Impossible Foods, the startup behind wildly popular vegan burgers, is exploring a public listing that could give the company a valuation of $10 billion, Reuters reported on Thursday.

At its last funding round in March 2020, the plant-based meat company was valued at $4 billion.

Impossible is now weighing options between going public via an initial public offering or a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, Reuters said, citing sources. This could happen within a span of the next 12 months.

Financial advisers have been approached to help manage discussions with SPACs that have already extended offers at a lucrative valuation, sources told Reuters. The SPAC route could diminish the positions of existing shareholders more substantially compared to an IPO.

Impossible Foods was founded by CEO Pat Brown in 2011 when he was on a sabbatical from teaching biochemistry at Stanford University's medical school. Brown previously told Insider he wished he gained an understanding of the meat industry earlier in his career, so he could've launched Impossible Foods sooner.

The company is backed by venture capitalists Khosla Ventures and Horizons Ventures, and more than a dozen superstar investors ranging from pop icon Katy Perry to tennis champion Serena Williams and rapper Jay-Z.

Shares in rival plant-based company Beyond Meat are trading more than 400% higher above its public debut price in 2019.

Several private companies are eager to be acquired by SPACs after a surge in popularity within the space last year. More than $98 billion has been raised across 306 SPAC IPOs so far in 2021, surpassing last year's record of $83 billion, according to data from SPACInsider.com.

Many of these companies may be unaware of the legal implications of not fully understanding the disclosures they can and can't make when going public. For this reason, the Securities and Exchange Commission has warned SPAC dealmakers of the risks and governance issues related with raising capital through blank-check firms.

A spokesperson for Impossible declined to comment on the Reuters report.