Nature’s Fynd raises $80 million to commercialize a new protein

Nature’s Fynd, a food tech company producing a protein from a microbe initially discovered in the geothermal springs of Yellowstone’s ancient volcano, has raised $80 million in new funding. The company was previously named Sustainable Bioproducts.

Generation Investment Management, the dedicated sustainable investment firm with $25 billion assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2019, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a $1 billion fund that invests in companies combating climate change, both led the round. Other participants included 1955 Capital; Mousse Partners; ADM Ventures, the venture arm of ADM; and Danone Manifesto Ventures, the venture arm of global food and beverage company Danone.

Production began this month at Nature’s Fynd’s new 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Chicago. The company will commercialize food and beverage products across breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack occasions.

Grown using a fraction of the land and water resources required by traditional agriculture, the protein contains all nine essential amino acids, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamins. It can be made into alternative meat and dairy products, as well as protein drinks and powders.

The company, which currently employs 50 people across its Chicago headquarters and its Bozeman, Mont., R&D center, plans to add more than 100 employees by the end of the year.