Alternative protein company, All G Foods, has secured $25 million in its Series A funding round, and will focus this investment on scaling up its animal-free milk production.
Agronomics Limited, a listed VC firm with a focus on cellular agriculture, led the round with a $15 million investment, with the other $10 million put forward by New Agrarian, Agronomics’ affiliate investment vehicle.
The $25 million is part of a larger expected round which is likely to position All G Foods as one of the top funded companies in the Asia Pacific’s alternative protein sector.
All G Foods manufactures plant-based meat products under its Love BUDS range, and is also hoping to be the first company in the Asia Pacific to commercialise animal-free milk – under the brand MilkCell – produced via precision fermentation.
In a recent podcast interview with Future Alternative, All G Foods founder, Jan Pacas, said the company had successfully recreated the proteins in animal-based milk, and had produced small amounts of animal-free milk in its lab, but its focus is now on scale, and gaining regulatory approval in Australia.
“Can we do it? Yes. Can we do it even at a cost that wont be prohibitive to consumers? [For] some products and proteins, yes – and we believe in the next three to four years, for the sheer majority of the proteins. But the scale up as well as the regulatory [approval] remain the challenges. That’s what we’re working on,” he said.
In a statement issued by All G Foods, Pacas said given its expertise in alternative proteins, Agronomics is an ideal investor.
“We could not be happier with Agronomics leading our Series A round due to their wealth of experience in funding the cellular agriculture sector. When looking for investment it is critical for us that our investors share our vision for developing technology that can change the way we impact the [planet] through categories that are simply not sustainable as our population grows. We are confident with investors like this, we can accelerate our commercialisation objectives and lead food innovation in Asia Pacific,” he said.
Other All G Foods investors include Woolworths’ venture capital and innovation fund (W23), the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Australia’s $10 billion ‘green bank’ established to facilitate investment in clean energy sector, Ellerston Capital, Triple Star Capital and Monash Capital.
Jim Mellon, executive director of Agronomics, said “We are delighted to be expanding our portfolio to include All G Foods, and increasing our exposure to the readily disruptable dairy industry, which is large enough to support multiple winners across different jurisdictions. We recognise Asia Pacific as a growing market for alternative proteins and realise the need for further focus on precision fermentation dairy given the enormous markets and the cruelty of conventional dairy farming.”
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