Plant-based meat startup Meati raises $50M Series C extension

Meati Foods, a Boulder, Colo.-based maker of plant-based meat, has raised a Series C extension, CEO Tyler Huggins tells Axios exclusively.

Why it's the BFD: Funding of meat alternative startups was expected to decline in tandem with sales, which had fallen 7.3% year over year as of July, according to Circana.

Yes, but: Meati appears to be bucking that trend.

• Huggins declined to comment on the investment amount.
• A source familiar with the situation says it was about $50 million.
• That puts the total amount raised north of $300 million, based on data provided by PitchBook.

Catch up fast: Huggins told Axios in April that the company planned to raise a Series D in early 2024 similar in size to its $172 million Series C.

Details: Investors in the round include Bond, Congruent Ventures and Revolution Growth, among others.

• Insiders were impressed with Meati's initial results, however, after launching nationally in both Whole Foods and Sprouts, Huggins says.
• The money provides Meati with options for expanding and a cushion in the event there are economic headwinds next year, he adds.

By the numbers: Huggins says that based on its current sales trajectory, it will generate tens of millions of dollars in its first full year of doing business.

• By late next year, Meati will have a clear line of sight to profitability.

What's next: Meati will continue to expand in grocery and food service and has a robust pipeline of product development, Huggins says.

• Theoretically, it could add plant-based fish and pork alternatives to its existing products of chicken and steak, he says.

How it works: Meati produces tens of millions of pounds of mycelium, a rootlike structure of a fungus that is the raw material from which the company's products are made.

• To keep up with demand, Meati opened an industrial-scale production facility in Colorado, financed by its Series C.