February 15, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Singapore-based Next Gen Foods has already garnered attention from some of the top food tech investors and growth drivers in Asia.

The startup is one of a select group of international investments made by Bits x Bites, China’s first agrifood tech-focused VC fund, and was the first partner of the $30 million FTIC – a Food Tech Innovation Center launched by Temasek in partnership with Agency for Science, Technology, and Research’s (A*STAR’s) Singapore Institute of Food & Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI).

Following a $30 million Seed round last summer, the startup has now announced it has secured a $100 million Series A  – the largest-yet Series A for a plant-based meat company – to support the expansion of TiNDLE, a chicken analog made from plants.

New investors participating in this round included the Southeast Asian venture capital firm Alpha JWC; Singapore-based global investment fund EDBI; and UK-based MLP Ventures. Return investors included Temasek through its newly launched Asia Sustainable Food Platform; Bits x Bites; GGV Capital; and K3 Ventures.

Existing investors in Next Gen Foods also include NX-FOOD and Yeo Hiap Seng, as well as business leader and author Chris Yeh and well-known English footballers Dele Alli and Kieran Gibbs. 

This funding brings total capital raised by Next Gen to $130 million.

Founded in 2020 by Brazilian-born poultry exporter and food industry veteran Andre Menezes and German food industry veteran Timo Recker, the driving force behind Next Gen Foods was to create products that reduce humanity’s reliance on animal agriculture.

The early leadership team, which included chief marketing officer Jean Madden and chief technology officer Jonn Seegers, conducted extensive research into what makes chicken taste and perform like, well… chicken.  They called their flagship product TiNDLE – representing a modern-day reference to John Tyndall, who proved the connection between atmospheric CO2 and the greenhouse effect.

From its beginnings of being served in a handful of Singapore-based restaurants, TiNDLE rapidly expanded within one year to being served in more than 200 restaurants in the U.S., Asia, the Middle East, and Amsterdam.

“Within a year, we’ve gone from launch to more than 200 restaurants on three continents. We will continue this relentless momentum in 2022 thanks to strong demand from chefs, distributors and consumers, who love TiNDLE for its great taste and tiny environmental footprint,” said Rohit Bhattacharya, CFO, Next Gen Foods. “We are grateful to have mission aligned and long-term global investors supporting us during such a critical phase for the company – bringing their expertise and visionary leadership.”

Made with only nine simple ingredients, all of which are well-known to international regulators and food manufacturers, TiNDLE is high in protein and fiber, and contains no antibiotics, hormones, cholesterol, or genetically modified ingredients. Its unique versatility and ease to work with has caught the attention of many famous chefs and culinary professionals, likely due to its proprietary emulsion of plant-based ingredients that mirror the aroma, cookability, and savory aspects associated with chicken fat.

“GGV is excited to deepen our relationship with the Next Gen Foods team with this Series A funding round. We seek companies that can separate themselves from the rest of the industry through technology, innovation and passion,” said Jenny Lee, managing partner, GGV Capital. “Next Gen Foods’ growth in less than a year has been remarkable, as is their ongoing commitment to being part of the solution for how global food production will play a significant role in addressing the impact of climate change. We look forward to their next phase of expansion into the U.S. and beyond.”

With this funding, Next Gen intends to increase distribution of its TiNDLE product throughout all 50 U.S. states through DOT Foods, the largest food redistributor in the country for more than 60 years.

It also will be used to support and increase the company’s R&D platform and product innovation capabilities at its new research hub on pace to open in Singapore later this year. This state-of-the-art R&D and Innovation Center is being developed in partnership with the FTIC established by Temasek’s Asia Sustainable Food Platform (mentioned above), and will act as a launchpad for the development and trial of new technologies, applications, and products. 

Hand-in-hand with this, Next Gen plans to expand its R&D team across Singapore and the U.S., adding more protein scientists and food technologists with backgrounds in ingredients and product development.

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– Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.