Motif Ingredients raises $90 million to create meat alternatives

Motif Ingredients, a Boston-based protein alternatives startup being spun out of Ginko Bioworks, raised $90 million in Series A funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Louis Dreyfus Co., Fonterra and Viking Global Investors.

Why it matters: The goal is to supercharge the meatless protein market, by basically creating an outsourced supplier, and it comes just as Beyond Meat prepares to test the public market's appetite.

The bottom line: "Predictions about the future often turn out to be false, but I'm going to risk predicting a rapid switch away from meat at some point. It's rocket-science hard, but no harder, and there is a huge amount of money to be made. Ergo it will happen." — Paul Graham