W23, Woolworths’ venture capital fund, has made a multi-million dollar investment in alternative protein company, All G Foods.
The investment follows a $16 million seed raise in September 2021, which included contributions from Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Ellerston Capital, Triple Star Capital, Monash Capital, Our Innovation Fund founders David Shein and Geoff Levi, and CEO of Andrews Meats, Peter Andrews.
All G Foods claims to be the first Australian company using precision fermentation to produce dairy proteins for dairy food items. It’s also developing a range of plant-based meat products under the Love BUDS brand.
According to CSIRO, precision fermentation is the engineering of micro-organisms like yeast and bacteria to produce complex organic molecules, including protein. All G Foods believes its use of the technology will attract a new wave of investment and opportunity to the Australian food manufacturing industry.
All G Foods’ founder and CEO, Jan Pacas, said “Our ambition is to make great tasting and nutritious products that meet the growing consumer demand. As we rapidly scale, it’s important for us to partner with a VC that has unparalleled access to distribution, assets and capabilities. W23 has established itself as a leading strategic VC in Australia and we’re delighted to call them a partner.”
W23’s managing director, Ingrid Maes, said the VC fund is keen to back the next wave of Australian food innovators. Its support of All G Foods follows a similar commitment in July 2021 to Harvest B, a Sydney-based start-up that supplies proteins as base ingredients for plant-based food items.
“All G Foods is at the forefront of new alternative protein production techniques and is setting out to build a global business that can help feed a growing population. We’re excited about the potential of All G Foods’ emerging technology and ambitious growth plans.”
All G Foods’ BUDS Burger patties can be found at more than 300 retail outlets, and the company has also expanded quickly in the foodservice sector. A number of new Love BUDS products are also under development, including plant-based mince, sausages, nuggets and bacon alternatives, expected to roll-out to retail stores over the next few months.
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