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Impossible Foods to reach $2B in funding

Plant-based protein company Impossible Foods announced it closed a $500 million funding round last week. The round was led by Mirae Asset Global Investments with participation from other existing Impossible Foods investors, the company said in a statement.

Financial support from Impossible’s first major fundraising round this year — the company netted $700 million last year in two separate rounds — will be used for the continued expansion of the company’s product portfolio and supply chain, which has recently ventured into international territory. There was also a suggestion that this influx in cash will be put toward extending the company’s technology platforms, which it has been steadily broadening in recent months.

In addition to promoting the continued global growth of Impossible Foods, this fundraising round also puts the company close to raising $2 billion in capital since it was founded in 2011. With such a sum buoying its growth, it is no surprise that Impossible Foods is beating industry odds and prospering.

As many plant-based purveyors have reported sales slowdowns, Impossible Foods cited IRI data showing it is “now the fastest-growing plant-based meat company in retail, outpacing the next 10 leading plant-based meat companies combined.” This speedy growth is due in part to the company expanding the size of its market.

In 2020, the California-based company had products at 150 stores. Now, it sells its growing array of plant-based products at 22,000 grocery stores. It is also adding international markets, including Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and New Zealand. Within those markets, there is also more than just the Impossible Burger available.

This year alone, the company launched Impossible Sausage in retail, Impossible Chicken Nuggets and Impossible Meatballs. Impossible Pork also debuted in foodservice locations. At a virtual press conference earlier this month, the company confirmed that it will work on creating plant-based steak, fish and eggs. Outside of meat, Impossible is also delving deeper into dairy and revealed a prototype of Impossible Milk at the virtual press conference.

At its last fundraise in 2020, the company was valued at about $4 billion, Reuters reported. While it did not disclose its latest valuation, this highly-funded agrifoodtech company is tailing its rival Beyond Meat which has a market cap of about $6 billion, according to Seeking Alpha.

Currently, Impossible Foods remains a private company. However, over the course of this year, there have been reports that the company would seek to go public on the U.S. stock exchange through an IPO or a SPAC deal. While founder Pat Brown did confirm in a press conference in November that the company will eventually go public, there was no timeline associated with that goal.