Brief: Plant-based house of brands Livekindly Collective nets $335m funding

• The Livekindly Collective — “a collection of heritage and start-up brands” marketing plant-based food products — has raised $335 million in a funding round led by TPG Capital‘s The Rise Fund.
• Rabo Corporate Investments — the VC arm of Rabobank — and US-based VC firm S2G Ventures also joined the round, alongside several undisclosed investors.
• The Livekindly Collective said it will use the growth funding to expand in key markets including the US and China, and to “fuel acquisitions, key partnerships, and investments in plant-based innovation.”

Why it matters:

In a statement, the New York-based Livekindly Collective said the investment brings its total funding to date to $535 million – which it claims makes it “one of the top three highest-funded and fastest-growing plant-based food companies globally.”

The collective was established last year by Switzerland-based impact investor Blue Horizon Group. It comprises four food brands — Oumph!, The Fry Family Food Co, LikeMeat, No Meat — plus media and content platform Livekindly, and employs a team of about 470 people worldwide.

“We are building a global pure-play in plant-based alternatives, which we believe is the future of food,” said Roger Lienhard, founder of Blue Horizon Group and the Livekindly Collective. “We believe the momentum behind plant-based living will continue to grow in both the private and public markets.”

Livekindly chief financial officer David Knopf said the collective’s “mission is to make plant-based living the new norm, creating a healthier, more sustainable global food system through our international portfolio that meets local tastes.”