Free Subscription

  • Access daily briefings and unlimited news articles

Premium

Only $39.95 per year
  • Quarterly magazine and digital
  • Indepth executive interviews
  • Unlimited news and insights
  • Expert opinion and analysis

Alt-protein funding in Apac soars, according to report

Alt-protein funding in the Asia Pacific (Apac) region rose by 92 per cent within the past year, according to the non-profit think tank Good Food Institute (GFI).

The organisation released a report, which documents the alternative protein sector’s progress worldwide, including the APAC over the past year.

Total funding in Apac across three subsectors – plant-based proteins, cultivated meat, and protein fermentation – hit $312 million last year, almost double 2020’s $162 million.

Among the top players are Singapore’s Next-gen Foods with a record-breaking $30 million seed raise and Australia’s V2Food with $110 million in their series B round.

Globally, alt-protein investments increased 60 per cent from 2020 to a new record-breaking total of $5 billion this year.

GFI’s report – which retrieves its data from PitchBook – indicates that counting all three subsectors, Asia Pacific now lays claim to a larger share of global alt-protein funding.

GFI

During the past 10 years, North America’s share of the global funding for alt-protein has been shrinking. From nearly 100 per cent of investments, the region’s share is now down to two-thirds.

In contrast, APAC secured 6 per cent of global funding last year, a notch higher than 5 per cent in 2020, and with only 1 per cent in 2015.

Europe took 10 per cent of investments, while the Middle East lands in second place at 11 per cent after successful funding rounds in Israel.

GFI

However, according to GFI, the Apac region is falling behind in fermentation technology. Plant-based protein reached a total investment of $220 million last year, with cultivated meat at $62 million, and fermentation at $30 million.

The organisation added that if Apac wants to keep up with the global alt-protein sector, it recommends that more startups reconsider the potential of fermentation.

“Given that fermentation-enabled proteins have the potential to almost single-handedly resolve the global protein deficit, Apac startups, policymakers, and investors would be wise to view this rapidly expanding sector as an area for enormous regional growth,” stated the report.

You have 3 free articles.