Mirae Asset Completes Investment in US Alternative Meat Company Impossible Foods
Mirae Asset Leads $500 Million Investment Round in US Alternative Meat Startup Impossible Foods
Minimal Difference from Real Meat Gains Support from Vegetarians and Diverse Consumers
[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] Mirae Asset Financial Group announced on the 24th that it has completed its investment as the lead investor in a $500 million funding round for Impossible Foods, a U.S. startup developing alternative meat. This investment was made at the group level, including Mirae Asset Securities, and marks the second time the group has led an investment in the company since March 2020.
Headquartered in California, USA, Impossible Foods is an alternative meat startup founded in 2011 by Patrick Brown, a biochemist from Stanford University. The company is also known for having investors such as Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft (MS), Li Ka-shing, chairman of Cheung Kong Group, as well as celebrities like singer Katy Perry and rapper Jay-Z.
Impossible Foods developed alternative meats such as hamburger patties (beef), sausages (pork), and chicken nuggets (chicken) by extracting the key ingredient 'heme' from hemoglobin, which gives meat its flavor, from soybean roots. Among alternative meats, it is the closest in taste to real meat, gaining high popularity not only among vegetarians but also among flexitarians?people who intermittently reduce meat consumption and have a strong intention to do so.
Impossible Foods products are currently offered at over 40,000 stores of leading global restaurant chains such as Starbucks and Burger King, as well as at approximately 20,000 stores of U.S. supermarket chains including Walmart, Costco, and Target.
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Impossible Foods’ cumulative funding has reached $2 billion (approximately 2.37 trillion KRW), with major investors including Mirae Asset, Temasek, Horizons Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures, and Coatue, among other global top-tier venture capital firms.
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