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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

fundraise

Impossible Foods Raises $500 Million Series F to Weather Global Volatility

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.

Karma Raises $12 Million for App which Combats Food Waste

Today Karma, a Stockholm, Sweden-based startup fighting food waste, announced a $12 million Series A fundraise. The round is led by Swedish investment firm Kinnebick, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Electrolux, and others. This brings Karma’s total funds raised to $18 million.

Launched in 2016, Karma is a mobile app that helps retailers sell excess food to consumers at super-reduced prices. The only rules are that the food can’t be past its legal sell-by date and that retailers must list it for at least 50 percent less than its original price.

Karma hopes to distinguish itself from competitors who also create new retail channels for food waste, such as Too Good To Go, by offering meals from high-end restaurants (even those with Michelin stars). They also emphasize transparency: they require retailers to be 100 percent clear about which foods or dishes they sell each day, so a user knows exactly what they’re getting.

“There’s a risk that when you talk about surplus or waste, people worry it’s low quality,” Karma’s VP of International Development Alex Spain told The Spoon a few months ago. “We want to make it seem like they’re not just picking up leftovers; we’re just trying to optimize supply and demand.”

Though the majority of Karma’s participating retailers are in Sweden, the app rolled out in the U.K. in February, 2018. Karma currently works with over 1,500 grocery stores, bakeries, cafés, and other food establishments, 300 of which are in the U.K. As of now, over 350,000 people have used the app to purchase surplus food. That’s none too shabby, but also pales in comparison to the reach of Too Good To Go, which has over 3 million downloads and is active across eight European countries.

The main investor name that jumped out for me is Electrolux. In Karma’s press release, Marty Carroll, Global VP of Digital at Electrolux stated, “As a world leader in appliances, Electrolux is working closely with Karma to help alleviate the global problem of food waste.”

How will the world’s second-largest appliance maker, also based in Sweden, make use of an app which facilitates B2C sales of surplus food? Will Electrolux customers of the future be able to discover recipes based off the surplus produce they purchased through Karma? Which they could then cook in their Electrolux smart ovens? After walking through the recipe with guided cooking app SideChef, which recently partnered with (you guessed it) Electrolux? Just some thoughts.

This investment also fits in well with Electrolux’s Food Foundation, which supports sustainable food projects around the world. The company has already partnered with several food waste initiatives through the foundation. They even created a documentary entirely dedicated to the subject.

Karma will use their newly raised funds to add over 65 positions and extend their reach to new stores. They’ll also expand to new markets, starting within Europe. The plan is to be in 150 markets by mid-2020. Let’s hope they don’t let their new funds go to waste. (Get it?)