Brief: NotCo bags $235m funding to enhance its discovery AI for plant-based protein

• Chilean alt-protein company NotCo has raised $235 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global with DFJ Growth and Zomalab among the others to invest. Sports stars Roger Federer and Lewis Hamilton also participated in the fundraise.
• The Santiago-based startup — which produces plant-based meat and dairy analogs — said the round values it at $1.5 billion, taking it to unicorn status. 
• NotCo plans to use the funding to launch new products in North America and expand its presence beyond the Americas to Asia and Europe. Some of the capital will also go towards further development of its artificial intelligence platform Giuseppe, which models novel combinations of plant-based ingredients.

Why it matters:

“Many companies have reached [out to] NotCo to say, ‘Can you do a plant-based version of our products?’ In that way, we can become the ‘Intel Inside'” of plant-based protein, NotCo CEO Matias Muchnick told Reuters.

NotCo launched NotMilk, its plant-based dairy alternative, in the US earlier this year. It’s expected to be available in 8,000 retail outlets across the country by the end of 2021.

The startup’s previous investors include L Catterton, SOSV, and Bezos Foundations, the VC firm of Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos.