Impossible Foods, makers of the eponymous plant-based meat, raised a $500 million round of funding late last week, Forbes first reported early this morning. Impossible added on Linkedin that it was a Series F round, and Reuters reports this brings the total amount raised by the company to $1.3 billion.
The round was led by South Korean firm Mirae Asset Global Investments, with participation from existing investors Khosla, Horizons Ventures, and Temasek.
Impossible’s fundraise comes amidst a global pandemic that has caused disruptions to daily lives around the world. Impossible Foods’ CFO David Lee wouldn’t comment on whether flexitarians are stockpiling Impossible meat, but he did say:
“With what’s happening in the world, it’s important to reassure our customers that we are built to withstand short-term shocks,” Lee said. “We’re able to stand tall. We have the ability with long-term investors.”
Just a couple months ago (though it feels like a lifetime), Impossible debuted its plant-based pork at CES in January and launched a plant-based Impossible Sausage Croissan’wich with Burger King.
Fast forward to now and the spread of COVID-19 alters our reality on an ongoing basis. With markets tumbling and a potential recession on the horizon (or already here), raising a sizeable round of funding makes a lot of sense for Impossible. Plant-based meat rival Beyond Meat went public last year, and plans to open up a new production facility in Asia by the end of this year.
Even with enough funding, this pandemic could impact Impossible in other ways. As my colleague, Catherine Lamb wrote last week:
Supply chains are another thing that could well be affected by COVID-19. Import restrictions in China have dramatically slowed down the country’s exports of meat and poultry. Alternative protein companies who import their plant-based ingredients from other countries, especially China, could also face production slowdowns as trade slows.
With fresh capital and a bulked up war chest, Impossible navigating this crisis is way more, well, possible.
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