糖心视频

Turns out you have to get some green to go plant based.

announced today that it has closed an oversubscribed fund to invest in plant-based food technology companies. The fund, the firm鈥檚 second, totals $165 million dollars and has already invested in two companies: wellness shots startup , and plant-based nutrition company .

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, a partner at the fund and co-founder of , said PowerPlant doesn鈥檛 like using the word vegan to describe itself.

鈥淸We are] about businesses that are more plant-centric, and advancing more of a plant-centric world,鈥� he said. The 鈥渋nhumane and unsustainable鈥� reality of modern food management can only be solved through plant-centric companies, he said.

The firm plans to lead or co-lead Series A and Series B rounds in the space with check size ranging between $4 million to $8 million dollars. He added that the firm will reserve money for follow-on rounds. This new found is almost four times larger than , which was $42 million dollars and has been full deployed.

Previously, PowerPlant invested in recently-public , as well as startups , , among others. as a growth equity firm that provides capital, guidance and operating expertise to 鈥渄isruptive plant-centric brands.鈥�

The alternative meat space has been sizzling for quite some time now. In May, Impossible Foods raised $300 million in funding for its plant-based burger. And, as mentioned, Beyond Meat had a strong debut as a public company, and is currently valued at $12 billion, . In Boston, a city known for its biotech scene, the largest recent funding rounds went to food tech companies, not life science startups.

Even products drawn from animals, like milk for example, are undergoing innovation from upstarts across the world. Oat milk, for example, is being branded a cow milk alternative. Sweden鈥檚 , one of the more popular oat milk brands, caught on in the United States . Oatly, at one point was so high in demand that its . Other brands tackling oat milk include and .

One almond milk startup, , said it isn鈥檛 rushing into starting a line of oat milk . With an uptick of interest comes a reminder that new territory has room for risk.

PowerPlant鈥檚 Gluck says there鈥檚 a lot of funds that are writing smaller checks in early stage food companies, like , and . And there are larger funds too like , and . He sees PowerPlant Ventures 鈥減laying at a stage where there is a lack of capital for Series A and B, and add value.鈥�

I鈥檒l leave you with an anecdote. I鈥檓 the token vegetarian among carnivorous friends and family, often. But, time and time again, when they try Impossible Meat whether in or burger form, there鈥檚 a wince, and soon after, a white flag that 鈥渋t鈥檚 not so bad after all.鈥�

I see alternative protein popping up in a range of establishments from fancy restaurants to the Burger King down the street. So it makes sense that firms like PowerPlant are there on the sidelines to capitalize on the potential of changing taste buds.

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