Foodtech start-up Next Gen, offering plant-based meat products, has launched in Singapore with seed funding of US$2.2 million. The company is preparing for its Series A in 2021, with a current production capacity to supply 9,000 restaurants.

“Next Gen’s asset-lite model enables more investment into its technology, R&D and marketing, as it builds a unique, global consumer brand. We are launching in Singapore, with anticipated expansion to China, the US and Europe over the next three years,” says Next Gen co-founder and CEO Timo Recker.

The plant protein production and distribution are being built around a network of partners, who bring capacity, expertise and resources that can be scaled quickly. 

“For example, we have a manufacturing capacity of over 5,000 tons per year in place. based on current average consumption, that means we expect we could serve 9,000 restaurants. We target to launch the consumer brand within the next six months,” Recker highlights.

The demand for plant-based meat products has exploded in the last few years, which is the basis of Innova Market Insights’ “The Plant-based Revolution” Top Trend for 2020. “Over US$1.5 billion was invested in the first seven months of 2020, more than double 2019’s investment of US$534 million,” notes Recker.

“The global plant-based protein sement is expected to reach US$85 billion by 2030 according to UBS. Asia will see significant growth according to Technavio, projected to reach an estimated market value of US$12.75 billion by 2030.”

Recker further underscores a “big and unmet opportunity” in plant-based chicken.

“With our proprietary research and analysis, our products have the taste, texture and satisfaction of meat, while providing the benefits of a high protein, low carb, low fat and rich in fiber food,” he details.

The garden city funds plant-based development
Next Gen co-founder Andre Menezes comments: “The city offers a fantastic entrepreneurial ecosystem, private equity and venture capital, and an enviable legal and support environment. It also has a vibrant dining scene and some exceptionally talented chefs, who will help us to introduce our brand to the people of Singapore, and from here to those across Asia and around the world.”

To become more self-sufficient and reduce its dependence on food imports, Singapore introduced its “30 by 30” vision in 2019 to locally produce 30 percent of the nation’s nutritional needs by 2030. 

The “garden city” has been leading the charge in Asia’s alternative protein development. Earlier this week, Singaporean cellular agriculture player Shiok Meats announced its US$12.6 million Series A funding round for the scaling up of cell-based shrimp meat.

In other developments, Singapore-based venture capital firm and business accelerator Big Idea Ventures recently attracted more investors to its alternative protein fund, including Bühler, Tyson and Temasek.

Over the past few years, Singapore’s investment firm Temasek Holdings invested around US$5 billion in the agri-food tech sector in total.

Next Gen leadership profiles
Recker was previously the founder and CEO of German plant-based meat company LikeMeat. Founded in 2013, LikeMeat’s range of products is sold in 10 European countries through 15,000 supermarkets. 

LikeMeat was acquired by global plant-based food company LIVEKINDLY Collective earlier this year. LikeMeat is its largest acquisition, after raising US$200 million in a founders funding round in March 2020. 

Andre Menezes is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Next Gen. Andre was previously the General Manager of Country Foods Singapore, wher he was involved in making Impossible Foods a household name therein Singapore. He has played an instrumental role in introducing plant-based protein across Asia in the past few years.

Also joining the team is John Seegers, chief technology officer, with over 25 years of technical experience in plant-based foods, including about six years with LikeMeat in Germany. John has managed several plant-based food R&D projects over the years, with US$18 million of investment.