Bloomberg reports that Chilean plant-based food producer NotCo SpA will use money from its latest funding round to enter the competitive fake chicken market this year and follow up with imitation salmon shortly after that, its CEO said.
NotCo said this week that New York-based Tiger Global, tennis player Roger Federer, Formula-1 driver Lewis Hamilton and musician Questlove were among investors in the company’s $235 million D round funding, giving it a valuation of $1.5 billion. It has raised $330 million to date.
Previous investors include Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and 3G investment arm The Craftory.
“We’re obsessed with launching new products to replace animal meats, as a way to counter the environmental damage from livestock and industry,” founder and chief executive officer Matias Muchnick said in an interview.
“Salmon farming has had catastrophic effects in southern Chile. And we want to launch something in that area after NotChicken.”
NotCo is fruit of a burgeoning startup scene in one of Latin America’s richest economies. Founded in 2015, the company uses artificial intelligence to analyze molecular structures and find new combinations of plant-based ingredients.
Its offering includes NotMayo, NotIceCream, NotMilk and NotBurger, and the firm’s products are sold in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and the U.S.
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. recently announced the acquisition of a plant-based ingredients producer in Europe, and Nestle SA is planning to enter the cultured meat market.
