Singapore is quickly becoming a bustling hub for the foodtech industry, with many startups cropping up across the island. Next Gen, a startup that develops and produces plant-based food, launched in October last year with a capitalization of USD 2.2 million.
On Thursday, the company announced that it raised USD 10 million in seed funding, backed by investors that include Temasek, K3 Ventures, NX-Food, FEBE Ventures, Blue Horizon, and EDB New Ventures, the investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. According to the startup, the funding round is the largest ever for a plant-based food tech company, based on data from PitchBook.
“The exceptional response from our investors—raising more than our initial USD 7 million target—is a strong validation of our team, our technology, our business model, our fantastic product, and our expansion strategy,” said Timo Recker, co-founder of Next Gen.
The funding will be used to expand into additional Asian cities and invest in continued research and development of new plant-based products. Part of the fresh capital will also be used to launch Next Gen’s plant-based chicken brand Tindle in Singapore next month.
Distributed by Classic Fine Foods, Tindle will be rolled out in select restaurants including Three Buns Quayside, The Privé Group, 28 Hong Kong Street, Bayswater Kitchen, and The Goodburger, among others. The first product will be Tindle Thy, high in protein and fibre, low in carbs, as well as GMO and cholesterol-free.
It also meets the nutritional guidelines for the Healthier Choice Symbol administered by Singapore’s Health Promotion Board due to its lower sodium and lower saturated fat content as compared to regular plant-based meat alternatives.
This article was originally published by Vulcan Post.
