Many established alternative protein upstarts — including Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat — draw on plants as the feedstock for their innovations. Nature’s Fynd (formerly known as Sustainable Bioproducts) draws on a fermentation process linked to unique microbes that live in the geothermal hot springs of Yellowstone National Park.
The company, which began production this month at a 35,000-square-foot factory in Chicago’s old stockyard distract, on Tuesday added $80 million in backing led by Generation Investment Management (the venture capital firm chaired by former Vice President Al Gore) and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (the fund established by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates).
Several investors from its $33 million Series A round — including 1955 Capital (which led the round; its founder Andrew Chung sits on the company's board) and the venture arms of Danone and Archer Daniels Midland — were also part of the latest round. The other backer was Mousse Partners, a family fund that manages the wealth of the Wertheimer family, which owns luxury fashion house Chanel.