bigideaventures
  • Accelerator
  • Funds
  • Portfolio
  • BIFC
  • Team
  • Media
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Apply
Select Page

Alternative protein gains momentum, despite challenges caused by Covid-19

by admin | Dec 5, 2020 | Press

  • Covid-19 has put the spotlight on food security concerns, increasing interest in the alternative protein industry
  • On Wednesday (Dec 2), Singapore became the first country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat
  • Alternative protein-focused venture capital firm Big Idea Ventures said its fund has more than doubled in size since Covid-19
  • Despite challenges, investor interest has increased as well, said alternative protein startups

SINGAPORE — Since Covid-19, the size of venture capital firm Big Idea Ventures’ New Protein Fund has more than doubled to approximately US$40 million (S$53 million), said the company’s founder and managing general partner Andrew Ive.

The Temasek Holdings-backed firm launched its fund in March 2019 with a goal of closing US$50 million by March next year.

It invests in alternative protein companies that focus on cell- and plant-based foods and related technologies. In Singapore, it has invested in Gaia Foods, Karana, LVL Life, Confetti Fine Foods and Shiok Meats.

The alternative protein sector was already on an upward trend before Covid-19, said Mr Ive. “But we’ve seen a lot more investor interest since the pandemic,” he said. “A lot more people are getting involved in this space. They see why it’s important.

“It’s probably the most transformative change in the food industry in a hundred years.”

With the disruption of commodity supply chains, more spotlight has been placed on food security.“This has raised the growth potential for the alternative protein sector, as countries become more receptive to the development of novel foods to complement traditional food sources,” said Mr Johnny Teo, executive director for food, healthcare and biomedical at Enterprise Singapore.

On Wednesday (Dec 2), Singapore became the first country in the world to allow the sale of cultured meat — also sometimes referred to as cell-based or lab-grown meat.

Cultured meat is grown in a lab by isolating animal cells from a source and replicating them in a cell culture, making it a novel food that does not have a history of being consumed by humans.

Other than cell-based meat companies, plant-based food companies are also deepening their footprints in Singapore. Products from plant-based food companies Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat can be found in selected restaurants, and the former made its products available in supermarkets in October.

COVID-19 INCREASED INVESTOR INTEREST, VALIDATED NECESSITY OF TECHNOLOGIES

Homegrown alternative protein companies attested to the positive effects of Covid-19 on interest in the industry.

“It helps validate the necessity of our technologies,” said Mr Eugene Wang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sophie’s Bionutrients, which uses microalgae to make plant-based protein. “Food security and supply chain disruptions were the key issues we were trying to address from the very beginning of the development of these technologies.”

Dr Vinayaka Srinivas, founder of cell-based red meat startup Gaia Foods, said that while some investors are conserving cash due to the uncertainty of Covid-19, many have realised that the industry is important.

“We are in a very sweet, lucky spot,” he said. “We are actually not aggressively going for investors, because we are still making sure we have everything ready from our side, but we are getting a lot of calls from investors.”

For jackfruit-based meat substitute startup Karana, the pandemic and news of its S$2.3 million funding round in July led to more investor interest as well.

Karana co-founder Dan Riegler said: “I think it would be much easier to talk about the number of people who are not actively interested in this space at this point.”

In June, cell-based seafood startup Shiok Meats bagged a S$4 million investment, and subsequently raised S$17.3 million in September.

STARTUPS FACED WORKPLACE RESTRICTIONS, SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTIONS

Shiok Meats’ investments were secured despite the difficulties of fundraising amid a pandemic. “It was hard as we could not meet many investors in person or they couldn’t visit our space,” said Dr Sandhya Sriram, co-founder and chief executive officer of Shiok Meats.

The pandemic also dealt other challenges to alternative protein companies.

Both Shiok Meats and Gaia Foods had to slow down research and development due to workplace restrictions, which prevented them from making full use of their labs.

The team from Karana could not travel to Sri Lanka, where it sources its jackfruit, and food manufacturers took more safety precautions, which led to delays of “at least a few months”.

“We’ve just been focused on managing everything that is in our control, and pushing things that we can as much as possible, but accepting that it’s a pretty unprecedented time,” said Mr Riegler. “We’ve just had to adapt as the situation warranted.”

Another challenge for the alternative protein industry is pricing, as most such companies are still small scale startups.

“It’s going to be hard to compete with a lot of existing products, especially the meat industry, on price,” said Mr Riegler, referring to plant-based products like Karana’s.

Dr Srinivas also said that it will take “some more years” for cell-based meat prices to go down.

Other obstacles to commercialisation include lack of widespread understanding about cell-based meat, he said. “That’s why we are also helping the Government to frame the regulatory framework so that they can understand and educate (the public),” he added.

Going forward, some local alternative protein companies are approaching the early stages of commercialisation in spite of challenges caused by Covid-19.

Karana, for instance, intends to launch its product with selected restaurants in January. Shiok Meats plans to use its latest investment to build a commercial pilot plant and launch its minced shrimp product in 2022.

Recent Posts

  • Alternative protein investor Big Idea Ventures reveals latest accelerator cohort
  • Big Idea Ventures Accelerator Reveals Fifth Cohort, Including Leaf Protein & Kabocha Milk Startups
  • Indian Start-Up EVO To Showcase Their Vegan Boiled Egg Internationally For The First Time
  • China start-up Haofood attracts Rich Products investment for peanut-protein chicken
  • Pearlita nets investment from Cult Food Science to develop “world’s first” cell-based oysters

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • July 2016
  • July 2015

Categories

  • Blog
  • Events
  • Podcast
  • Portfolio
  • Press
  • Research Paper
  • Uncategorized
Apply New York Apply Singapore Apply Paris
  • Contact
  • Funds
  • Investing
  • Partners
  • Portfolio
  • BIFC
  • Research
  • Terms
  • Anti Spam
  • Copyright
  • DMCA
  • FTC
  • Privacy
  • Social Media
New York

88 Pine St., 14th Floor
New York, NY 10005

Singapore

No. 9 Chin Bee Drive,
SG, 619860

Paris

Station F, 5 Parv. Alan Turing 75013 Paris, France 

Newsletter
Stay on top of our latest news.
Loading
Don’t worry, we won’t spam you.
© 2020 Big Idea Ventures. All Rights Reserved
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
 
Required 'Candidate' login to applying this job. Click here to logout And try again
 

Login to your account

  • Forgot Password?

Reset Password

  • Already have an account? Login

Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. A password reset link will be sent to you by email.

Close
 

Answers

 

Account Activation

Before you can login, you must active your account with the code sent to your email address. If you did not receive this email, please check your junk/spam folder. Click here to resend the activation email. If you entered an incorrect email address, you will need to re-register with the correct email address.