Horizons Ventures, the private investment firm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has led a $US28.6 million ($44 million) Series A fundraising round for synthetic foods company Nourish Ingredients.
Canberra-based Nourish uses synthetic biology to produce fats without using animal material.
Main Sequence Ventures and superannuation fund Hostplus supported the round.
Horizons and Main Sequence co-led a $US11 million funding round for Nourish last year (APE&VCJ, Apr 2021).
Nourish was founded by two former CSIRO researchers Dr James Petrie, now the company’s chief executive, and Dr Ben Leita.
The company claims its plant-based proteins can be tailored to mirror the flavours of meats such as pork or beef.
The company’s proprietary fermentation process produces food oils that mimic the molecular structure of animal fats. The process does not require the use of palm or coconut oils, demand for which outstrips supply.
Nourish will use the new capital to scale up production and build its team.
Nourish products are expected to be components in the growing range of products provided by non-animal “meat” producers. The company has already entered an R&D collaboration agreement with Sydney company Vow which recently opened a commercial production facility for cell culture artificial meat production. Vow is backed by Blackbird Ventures, Grok Ventures and Square Peg Capital.
“Feedback from our alt-protein partners has been very positive,” Petrie said. “Nourish’s products have a transformative impact on their products – they haven’t tasted anything like it before. Our main challenge is to scale fast enough to meet their expectations but we are also deeply invested in pushing the boundaries of alt-protein taste and experience into new spaces.”
Horizons Ventures has also invested in Melbourne-founded Airwallex, Fleet Space, Harrison.ai, Prospection, Q-CTRL, Soil Carbon Co, Spaceship and Varden. In New Zealand, it has invested in Soul Machines.
Image: Nourish Ingredients sees its market as producers of meat-free protein foods.