Impossible Foods announces $300M funding round to accelerate scaleup

Total funding for the industry-leading startup exceeds $750 million, including the most recent Series E equity round of $300M

Impossible Foods has announced a $300 million funding round. The Series E round was led by existing investors Temasek and Horizons Ventures. The fifth equity funding round since Impossible Foods was launched in 2011 is intended to accelerate the company’s rapid scaleup — including accelerated hiring and capacity expansion at the company’s plant in Oakland, Calif. In total, the industry-leading food-tech startup has raised more than $750 million.

In addition to blue-chip institutional investors, the Series E round includes individual investors including: Jay Brown, Kirk Cousins, Paul George, JAY-Z, Trevor Noah, Alexis Ohanian, Kal Penn, Katy Perry, Questlove, Ruby Rose, Phil Rosenthal, Jaden Smith, Serena Williams, will.i.am and Zedd.

David Lee, Chief Financial Officer for Impossible Foods said, “We have cracked the molecular code for meat and built an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio and brand. Our global financial partners are supporting a technology powerhouse that will transform the global food system.”

The latest funding round comes amid unprecedented demand for the company’s flagship product, the plant-based Impossible Burger, which debuted at some of America’s best restaurants in 2016.

At the International Consumer Electronics Show in January 2019, Impossible Foods launched Impossible Burger 2.0 — the company’s first significant product upgrade.

America’s largest “better burger” franchise, Red Robin, launched the Impossible Burger last month at nearly 500 restaurants nationwide. Also in April, the world’s second largest burger chain, Burger King, debuted the Impossible Whopper in a regional test in St. Louis.

In addition to an increasing number of restaurants that sell the Impossible Burger, chefs are expanding the number of items made from the versatile plant-based meat, with average per-store volume increasing.

Since launching in Singapore in March 2019, sales have increased in Asia more than three-fold. Impossible is sold in a wide range of restaurants and cuisines throughout Hong Kong, Singapore, and Macau. Impossible Foods plans to launch the Impossible Burger in retail outlets later this year.