Record Investment In Plant-Based Industry In 2020 Despite The Crisis

Investment in companies and startups producing meat and dairy alternatives was the highest ever in 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 is even better than the whole year 2019, according to a new state of the industry report released by The Good Food Institute(GFI).

GFI analysed investment activity within plant-based meat, egg, and dairy companies as well as cultivated meat companies. 

US plant-based alternatives companies received a record $747 million in investments in 2019, surpassing the money raised in 2018 by 11 per cent.

Investment in plant-based companies in the first quarter of 2020 was $741 million, which is almost as much as 2019 full-year investment total.

In the past decade US plant-based meat, egg, and dairy companies have raised $2.7 billion in venture capital, 45 per cent ($1.2 billion) of which was raised in 2019 and first quarter 2020 alone.

“There’s been a surge in investor confidence fuelled by durable and increasing consumer interest in alternative proteins,” said GFI Associate Director of Corporate Engagement, Caroline Bushnell. 

“Investors have seen the market opportunity and are moving to capitalise on a global shift in the way meat is produced.

“This record-level investment will bolster the industry and support continued growth and innovation for the long term, ensuring that alternative protein companies have the resources to grow and thrive, particularly during times of short-term market volatility. The COVID-19 crisis has made bolstering our global protein supply more critical than ever, given the inherent – and now very apparent – vulnerability of supply chains dependent on industrial animal agriculture.”