This Aussie Startup Is Launching Vegan Meat. Now It’s Got $16M To Develop Animal-Free Milk. 

Australia’s newest food tech on the block, All G Foods, just launched with AU$16 million (US$11.8 million) ahead of the launch of its first vegan burger product. With the new funds, the company is racing to roll out the rest of its plant-based meat line-up, as well as investing in precision fermentation technology to one day offer animal-free dairy too. 

All G Foods has just closed its seed funding round with AU$16 million (US$11.8 million), backed by numerous high-profile names including the Australian government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which invested $5 million. Other investors included Ellerston Capital, Singapore-based Triple Star Capital, as well as angels like David Shein, Geoff Levi, Rob Lederer, and Peter Andrews. 

According to documents from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a Hong Kong-based family-owned VC, TWIYO, is also a shareholder in the company. The round represents one of Australia’s largest seed funding rounds within the alt-protein industry. 

All G Foods

Based in Sydney, All G Foods was founded by CEO Jan Pacas, who also previously co-founded the publicly-listed pet care platform Mad Paws and HR software firm Flare. Pacas decided to enter the alt-protein space in the wake of the pandemic, which saw sales of plant-based meats surge amid rising awareness of health, nutrition, and sustainability.

All G Foods’ first product is a plant-based burger, Love BUDS Patties, made from soy protein, canola oil, coconut oil and natural flavourings. It will be stocked on supermarket shelves at IGA locations as well as served across burger chains in Australia this September, says All G. 

Other plant-based meat products will also be rolled out under All G’s Love BUDS Meat brand, which includes vegan mince and sausage alternatives. 

Product expansion and global plans

For Pacas, the latest investment will fuel the company’s ambitions to become an international alt-protein player. The founder and CEO has already outlined a number of other products that the team will be developing for the Love BUDS Meat brand, which includes plant-based chicken and bacon alternatives. 

“We are very grateful and privileged to have the backing of so many incredible investors,” shared Pacas. “They see the potential in All G Foods becoming a global supplier of high quality and delicious alternative proteins.”

The company now joins Australia’s growing cohort of homegrown vegan meat startups, the best-known being v2food, which has made a name for itself in Australia and abroad. Also based in Sydney, v2food, which recently bagged AU$72 million (US$54 million) in an extended Series B, has partnerships with fast-food major Burger King across Asia, as well as Hungry Jacks in Australia. 

Other players in the country’s flourishing plant-based industry, which saw retail sales jump 46% in 2020, include Veef by Fenn Foods, Deliciou, and Fable Foods. 

For Pacas, All G aims to stand out by making “products that are indistinguishable and potentially better than their animal counterparts in both taste and nutrition.”

“We will succeed because we are creating products that consumers love, while making a positive difference for our planet,” he added. 

Related: Plant-based industry fights big meat claims that Aussie shoppers are ‘duped’ by vegan protein

Entering precision fermentation dairy

Another point of difference for All G is its goal to leverage precision fermentation as well. Fuelled with its impressive seed funding, the company is now working on developing animal-free milk by programming microorganisms to reproduce the same dairy proteins found in cow’s milk. 

This is the same technology that pioneer Perfect Day is using to make its cruelty-free whey proteins, which are now incorporated into several ice cream brands. Aussie startup Change Foods, which also now boasts a headquarters in the US, is using precision fermentation as well to make real dairy cheese without cows. 

All G plans to create cow-free milk as well as other animal-free dairy products, which will be sold under a separate brand name: MilkCELL. According to the startup’s website, the team will be initially focusing on recreating casein proteins, as well as whey protein. 

Pacas says that the financing proves that “institutions and opinion-leading individuals see the potential in an Australian first company like All G Foods which combines world-leading science with foundational precision fermentation technology and has assembled a world-leading team.”

It’s the reason why CEFC, which has been tasked to invest $10 billion in clean energy projects on behalf of the Australian government, has backed All G. “With plant-based proteins and proteins from technology like precision fermentation, we can help feed a growing local and global population while putting less pressure on our environment,” said its CEO Ian Lermonth.  

All images courtesy of All G Foods.