The round was led by L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm.

Planted, the Swiss startup making vegan meat from plant proteins, announced its $72 million Series B round to fund the launch of its new whole-cut line of products including chicken breast, increase production capacity and expand internationally. (CISION PR Newswire)

Planted’s mission is to “put a tasty end to the conventional meat industry and the resulting suffering for animals and the environment.” It does this by producing delicious meat from alternative proteins such as peas, oats, and sunflowers through a biostructuring approach that combines protein structuring and fermentation.

The funding round was led by PE firm L Catterton, and joined by existing investors such as Vorwerk Ventures, re:food, Movendo, Be8 Ventures, ACE, ETH Foundation, Yann Sommer, as well as new investor Tengelmann Ventures.

Said Planted’s Co-Founder Christoph Jenny: “Current plant-based meat technologies and solutions are not able to replace more than 1-3% of meat consumption, and therefore are not having the required impact on our food system. Consumers argue that this is due to a lack of taste, an overall unattractive price, and questionable ingredients. For meat-eaters to make a switch, it is crucial that we create ‘better meat than animals’ – meaning better taste, price, lower environmental impact, good ingredients, and healthiness. It is these parameters that are always at our focus.”

Whole cut launch

Planted’s whole cut range is supported by technology that permits the design and production of larger pieces of meat with complex structure, texture, juiciness, and tenderness.

“We are currently in the final phase of launching various whole-cut products such as our chicken tenders, chicken patties, and chicken breasts,” elaborated Jenny. “These are the first larger cuts of meat on the market without additives.”

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