March 25, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan

Previously called Sustainable Bioproducts, the newly named Nature’s Fynd has closed on an $80 million Series B co-led by the $25 billion investment firm Generation Investment Management, which was founded by Al Gore, and the $1 billion fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. 

Also participating in the round were return investors 1955 Capital,  ADM Ventures, and Danone Manifesto Ventures, along with Mousse Partners.

This funding follows a $33 million Series A announced by the company in February of last year, bringing total funding to more than $120 million in little more than the span of 12 months. 

Born under the name Sustainable Bioproducts as a research project under NASA, and based out of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago, the original aim was to study extremophile organisms – microbes that can live and thrive under extreme conditions, according to company CEO Thomas Jonas.

“In these challenging times, securing food for our growing population under the immense pressure of climate change becomes even more urgent,” said Jonas. “We must find new solutions that can both nourish people and nurture the planet. Our innovative technology was developed by studying nature’s own solutions for adapting — and ultimately thriving — in environments with limited resources.”

This work led the team to study microbes living in the volcanic springs at Yellowstone National Park, and to the development of an innovative fermentation technology that enables the production of protein that uses 99 percent less land and 87 percent less water than beef.

“Curiosity and a passion for exploration led us to Yellowstone, one of the harshest ecosystems in the world,” said Thomas Jonas, co-founder and CEO of Nature’s Fynd, in February 2019 when the company announced its Series A. “By observing how life optimizes the use of resources in this challenging environment, we have invented a way to make protein that is radically more efficient and gentler on our planet.”

Through the company’s process, high-protein extremophile microbes are fed starches or glycerin, which then rapidly multiply. The final product, called Fy™ (“fai”), which contains the nine essential amino acids considered key to the human diet, makes it a rare non-animal source of complete protein, as well as dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamins that can be formulated to be a solid, powder, or liquid, and can be either savory or sweet.

“What we have is pretty unique in that it is an organism we discovered that was not known to man before,”Jonas told Crunchbase.

Just this month, production began at the company’s new 35,000 square-foot manufacturing facility at the historic Union Stockyards in Chicago, where it will produce alternative protein breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack foods and beverages.

Highly adaptable, this animal-free protein alternative can not only be used to make meat, egg, and dairy alternatives, or snacks such as dips, but can also be widely used as an ingredient by other manufacturers, or in animal feed – reflected in the fact that both ADM and Danone are investors.

At its Chicago headquarters and its R&D center in Bozeman, Montana, Nature’s Fynd currently has a team of 50, which it plans to double by the end of this year. 

“Nature’s Fynd has a highly efficient solution to help address the climate crisis,” said Lila Preston, co-head of the Growth Equity strategy at Generation Investment Management. “We have tracked the team and technology for several years and believe this is one of the most scalable platforms to drive true food system sustainability.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.