Jay-Z and Reddit Co-Founder Invest In Vegan Chicken Brand Now Worth $250 Million
Plant-based start-up Simulate makes ‘the most advanced chicken nugget on the planet’, which contains more protein and less fat than animal-based nuggets.
Credit: Joella Marano
A plant-based start-up is now valued at over $250 million after its latest round of funding was supported by high-profile investors including rap superstar Jay-Z.
The vegan protein company Simulate are the creators of NUGGS - which they describe as ‘the most advanced chicken nugget on the planet’, containing more protein and less fat than animal-based nuggets. Made from texturized pea protein, NUGGS have the taste, look, and texture of animal-based nuggets, and are completely free from cholesterol.
Now Simulate has raised $50 million in its latest round of funding, which takes the plant-based company’s value to over $250 million, reports Bloomberg.
Credit: Simulation/(CNW Group/McCain Foods).
The funding round was joined by investors including Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners, Chris Sacca and Crystal Sacca, McCain Foods, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Discussing the future of food, Ohanian previously stated that “plant-based foods, products, etc. are going to get a huge bump next decade as we realize what our factory-animal-processing practices have done to our health & safety”.
NUGGS are currently available at 800 Walmart stores and nearly 400 Target locations, and Simulate aims to expand into other meat-free products.
Rise of Plant-Based Protein
The success of Simulate is the latest high-profile investment for plant-based proteins, following a record year in 2020 that saw $3.1 billion invested in alternative meat proteins.
"Most of the conventional meat companies have reconstituted as protein companies, and nine of the 10 biggest have either launched or invested in plant-based meat, cultivated meat, or both”, Bruce Friedrich, executive director of the Good Food Institute, explained to Plant Based News about the shifting protein market.
Rap star Jay-Z is no stranger to investing in plant-based foods. He was among a group of investors including Oprah Winfrey and Natalie Portman who bought a 10% stake in popular oat-milk brand Oatly last year, in a deal that valued the company at around $2 billion. Oatly’s rapid growth and recent IPO has seen its latest valuation placing it closer to $10 billion.
Want to learn more about the plant-based companies disrupting the stock market? Listen now to our podcast episode Michael Pellman Rowland: Betting On Plant Based Meat.
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The footage was reportedly recorded at Marshall BioResources in North Rose, New York, where up to 22,000 dogs - mostly beagles - are being bred for animal experimentation.