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Temasek-Backed Plant-Based Chicken Maker in Singapore Secures Funds to Enter U.S.

Temasek-Backed Plant-Based Chicken Maker in Singapore Secures Funds to Enter U.S.

Plant-based chicken maker Next Gen Foods Pte raised $20 million from investors including GGV Capital, Bits X Bites and food and beverage maker Yeo Hiap Seng Ltd. to enter the U.S., the world’s biggest market for plant-based foods.

Existing backers including Temasek Holdings Pte and K3 Ventures joined new investors including author Chris Yeh and football player Dele Alli in the startup’s extended seed round. The additional capital, which brought the entire seed round to $30 million, valued the firm at almost $180 million from about $40 million in February, according to the company.

The Singapore-based startup plans to use the fresh capital to enter the U.S. retail market in the next 12 months.

“The U.S. market entry reflects our goal of becoming the world’s number-one plant-based chicken,” Andre Menezes, co-founder and former chief operating officer who was recently named chief executive officer.

Rohit Bhattacharya, who was previously director at Temasek, has joined the firm as chief financial officer, while former CEO Timo Recker became chairman.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.