Blackbird Ventures has led a $6.5 million seed funding round in Fable Food Co, an early-stage company that produces meat alternative products from mushrooms.
Other participants in the round include US agriculture and food tech venture firm AgFunder, sustainability-focused Aera VC and Better Bite Ventures along with Singapore-based product importer Ban Choon Marketing and former Sequoia Ventures partner Warren Hogarth.
Shoes of Prey co-founder Michael Fox is chief executive and a co-founder of Fable which is already supplying products to Woolworths, Coles and Harris Farm Markets as well as to hamburger chain Grill’d, which recently started offering Fable Meaty Mushroom Burgers at 136 locations. Fable’s products are also available at restaurants in Singapore and the UK.
Fable, which processes its products in the Sunshine Coast area of Queensland, is now preparing to launch in the US by the end of this year.
Fable was founded in 2019 by Fox, fine dining chef turned chemical engineer and mycologist (mushroom scientist) Jim Fuller, and organic mushroom farmer Chris McLoghlin.
Fox said he has been a vegetarian for six years and recently gave up consuming meat altogether “for a mix of health, environmental and ethical reasons”.
He said he had learned that a lot of people wanted to reduce their meat consumption for similar reasons but found it challenging because they enjoyed the taste and texture of meat. He started researching to find a way to make it easier to transition to plant-based foods. Several chefs he spoke to suggested using mushrooms as a base ingredient. He then met Fuller and McLoghlin who were in the process of developing meat alternatives using mushrooms.
“When we met, we realised we shared the same values and goals and had complementary skill sets,” Fox said. “We shared a common desire to help end industrial agriculture and wanted to make our food system more ethical, healthy, sustainable and lower its greenhouse gas emissions.”
Fable’s first products include a substitute for pulled pork, braised beef and beef brisket, along with a line of ready-made meals.
The company uses shiitake mushrooms which Fox says are naturally full of flavour and, as a slow-growing mushroom, naturally have a fleshy fibrous texture not unlike meat. They also have a chemical composition which, when cooked, produce flavours similar to cooked meats.
Fable’s products are made with the mushrooms and a few vegetable-based additives, white and black pepper, coconut oil, tapioca flour and gluten free soy source.
Along with completing the capital raise, Fable has recruited former SafetyCulture general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa as chief growth officer.
Image: A Fable Food mushroom-based meal.