Singapore-essentially based Next Gen Meals will bring its plant-essentially based rooster alternative to the US after raising a $20 million seed extension. Investors included GGV Capital, agriculture and meals tech-targeted Bits x Bites, meals and beverage company Yeo Hiap Seng, entrepreneur and “Blitzscaling” creator Chris Yeh and English footballer Dele Alli.
Returning merchants consist of Temasek, which led Next Gen Meals’ usual $10 million seed round, launched in February, and K3 Ventures. The first $10 million was once already the largest seed funding ever raised by a plant-essentially based meals tech company, in step with data from Pitchbook, and now the round totals $30 million. Segment of the funding would maybe be frail to maintain 50 roles in the U.S. for its evaluate and construction, sales, offer chain and finance and marketing and marketing groups.
Next Gen also launched adjustments to its leadership team. Co-founder Timo Recker is intelligent from his chief executive officer discipline to chairman, whereas Andre Menezes, one other founder, will defend over the CEO put. Mature Temasek director Rohit Bhattacharya will join the startup as its chief monetary officer.
Next Gen’s rooster alternative, known as TiNDLE, launched in Asia by partnerships with eating locations and is now served in more than 70 areas in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. Over the subsequent 12 months, Next Gen will defend a identical manner because it enters the U.S., working with meals companies in cities to keep TiNDLE dishes for his or her menus. In the end this is able to well assemble larger to other distribution channels, treasure retail, Menezes told TechCrunch.
To replicate rooster meat’s texture, Next Gen uses a proprietary blend of plant-essentially based fats, collectively with sunflower oils, and natural flavors. This allows TiNDLE products to copy the aroma and browning of rooster when it cooks.
Within the U.S., Next Gen faces contention from plant-essentially based meals companies treasure Beyond Meat, which launched its Hen Tenders product at about 400 eating locations earlier this week. Panda Explicit, a fashionable meals chain, shall be piloting Beyond Meat orange rooster.
When requested referring to the competitive landscape, Menezes mentioned, “We are in truth comfortable this sector is gaining traction and we develop no longer watch other plant-essentially based companies as our competitors. The utterly competitors we peril about are the companies bringing unsatisfactory products to shoppers. Shoppers would maybe well give up up having the unsuitable influence that plant-essentially based meals compromise in style and experience even this day.”
He added that TiNDLE is GMO and cholesterol-free, and Next Gen has an asset-light enterprise model that can assemble it more uncomplicated to scale into recent markets.
Earlier than launching Next Gen, Recker based German-essentially based LikeMeat, whereas Menezes labored at one in all the arena’s largest poultry exporters before serving as general manager of Singapore meals distributor Country Meals.
In an announcement, GGV managing partner Jenny Lee mentioned, “The Next Gen team has one in all the strongest founder-market suits in foodtech, having previously developed and efficiently launched a plant-essentially based meat product for the European market. The team’s center of attention on product quality, tag take dangle of and distribution offers a sturdy basis for the future enhance of the company.”
