Mock-meat firm backed by Temasek bags additional $20m seed funding from GGV, others

Next Gen Foods, a Singapore-based startup that specializes in plant-based meat, has raised US$20 million in an extended seed funding round. This comes after the company banked an initial US$10 million in seed fund in February.

Temasek and K3 Ventures returned as investors in this round, joined by new backers GGV Capital, Bits x Bites, as well as individual investors like Tottenham Hotspur FC and England football professional Dele Alli.

Andre Menezes, co-founder and CEO, Next Gen Foods / Photo credit: Next Gen Foods

Next Gen Foods developed Tindle, a plant-based chicken substitute, and launched it in Singapore in early 2021. With US$30 million on hand in seed funding, the firm is eyeing an expansion into the US.

Estimated to be worth US$7 billion, the US is “the world’s biggest market for plant-based food,” according to Andre Menezes, Next Gen Foods’ co-founder and CEO. “We are already putting our foundations in place to be in-market within the next 12 months as we accelerate our goal of becoming the world’s no. 1 plant-based chicken,” he said. To support this move, the company will hire 50 employees in the US.

Tindle is currently sold in 70 restaurants across Singapore, Macau, and Hong Kong. Using the additional funds, the company is preparing for a wider rollout of the product in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

The mock-meat startup will also spend on technology development, product diversification, and a Singapore-based research and development center.