Veggie ‘meat’ start-up backed by Nasa wins financing from tech moguls and Silicon Valley climate fund
- Chicago-based Sustainable Bioproducts has raised US$33 million in financing from premier venture capital funds and other investors
- The funds will be used to help support commercialisation of a new way to grow edible plant-based protein
A Chicago-based biotechnology company working with Nasa to develop a new form of plant-based protein fit for supporting space exploration has received US$33 million from venture capital firms, including an energy tech fund backed by Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Jeff Bezos.
The funding will support the development and commercialisation of the animal protein alternative, according to Sustainable Bioproducts co-founder and chief executive Thomas Jonas.
The climate-friendly protein is a product of research into extremophile organisms that live in Yellowstone National Park’s volcanic springs.
“That work led to the development of an innovative fermentation technology, which can grow protein with great nutritional value and minimal impact on the environment,” the company said in a press release.
The fundraising, which represents the company’s maiden round of institutional financing, was led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm 1955 Capital. Also taking part was Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a US$1 billion tech fund led by Bill Gates, with the support of tech moguls including Alibaba Group Holding executive chairman Jack Ma, SoftBank Group’s founder and chief executive Masayoshi Son, and Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos. Alibaba is the owner of the Post.
The market for global plant protein is forecast to grow to US$16.3 billion by 2025 from US$10.5 billion in 2017, according to consumer data provider Statista.
Jonas, who undertook business studies in the early 1990s at the international business school HEC Paris, said one application for the plant-based protein is as a meat substitute for use in traditional Chinese pork buns.