Homegrown manufacturer of plant-based alternatives for meat and seafood Growthwell Foods announced yesterday (September 16) that it has successfully raised US$22 million (S$29.6 million) in a Series A funding.
The funding is backed led by Creadev, with the participation of GGV Capital, Iris Fund (Iris Capital and Hanwha, supported by Penjana Kapital) and existing investors Temasek and DSG Consumer Partners.
According to the company, this current seed money is nearly three times the US$8 million raised in 2019.
It hopes that this new investment will fund Growthwell’s vision to become Asia’s leading plant nutrition food tech company and help reduce the world’s reliance on meat and seafood, as well as reduce the impact on the environment.
“We are extremely pleased to have global investors like Creadev and GGV Capital onboard Growthwell as we look to scale up our plant nutrition business beyond Southeast Asia”, said Justin Chou, Executive Director of Growthwell Foods.
“We believe our current series A fundraising round is one of the largest in the Southeast Asia food tech space, and we will continue to trail blaze plant nutrition in Asia.”
Plant-based food is the future
The alternative meat scene has been abuzz with more plant-based firms emerging in Singapore, with interesting products such as vegan bak kwa and plant-based yakiniku meat.
With increased demand and market for plant-based options, investing in Growthwell is a decision that shows foresight.
“Observing consumers’ rising consciousness toward healthy eating and sustainable consumption, we have a strong conviction that the plant-based food targeting the younger generation and flexitarian consumer group will have robust growth in the years ahead,” said Alan Zhu, co-head of Creadev China.
The same sentiment is shared by Jenny Lee, Managing Partner of GGV Capital, who concurs, “We look forward to partnering with Growthwell to capture the large mass-market opportunity in alternative protein and to develop new, affordable, and delicious plant-based analogues that people from all walks of life will enjoy eating”.
With Growthwell’s origins in meat substitutes, the company is currently focused on seafood alternatives. It plans to take it a step further with a new collection of seafood and chicken alternatives aimed at the growing number of flexitarians.
As David Attenborough so proclaims in ‘A Life on Our Planet’, the only way to save our planet is by going plant-based. With the current support and investment in the field, I’d say we have a fighting chance.
Featured Image Credit: Growthwell Foods