KBW Ventures, as investors that advocate for future food and plant-based business models, participated in the Rebellyous Foods seed round
Rebellyous Foods, the only startup developing innovative production technology specific to the plant-based meat industry, announced today that it has raised $6M in Series A funding co-led by Clear Current Capital, Fifty Years, CPT Capital, and Liquid 2 Ventures. Other funders include Agronomics and Vulcan Capital, the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., the company founded by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen.
Rebellyous is founded and led by Christie Lagally, a former Boeing engineer with a passion for planetary and public health. In addition to its production technology, Rebellyous crafts next-generation plant-based nuggets with no birds, but all of the nostalgia. Rebellyous will use this investment to accelerate its development of replicable, novel equipment and standardized facilities; fast-track its manufacturing scaleup; immediately hire equipment and mechanical engineers at its Seattle research facility; and expand product development to broaden its portfolio.
The latest round of funding enables the company to continue to thrive amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been linked to wet markets selling live animals, further underscoring the need to reduce global reliance on animal protein.
Christie Lagally, Rebellyous Founder and CEO: “Bird flu, swine flu, and now COVID-19 demonstrate that keeping large numbers of animals in close contact with one another presents a tremendous risk for global health,” said Christie Lagally, Rebellyous founder and CEO. “However, to transition away from our heavy dependence on meat, it’s critical that we make plant-based meat affordable and widely available through innovative production technology. At Rebellyous, our mission is to make plant-based meat that is better than animal meat in every way, from price and convenience to taste and nutrition.”
As a part of the investment round, Rebellyous welcomed Ela Madej, Founding Partner at Fifty Years to its board.
“It’s our mission at Fifty Years to partner with companies solving the world’s biggest problems,” Madej said. “We have been Rebellyous’ early supporter and I can’t be more excited to join the company’s board. We need a pandemic-proof food system that can meet the nutritional needs of our growing human family. We’re also happy to support job creation in a time when many other businesses are having to lay off workers.”
Plant-based chicken is poised for remarkable segment growth, but only if it can be produced at a cost and in quantities that rival the poultry industry. Rebellyous is on a mission to do exactly that, and to do so without opening the door to future zoonotic disease outbreaks.
