Wild Earth Secures $11 Million Series A Funding to Develop High-Protein, Biotech-Based Pet Food

On May 22, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned that Wild Earth, a startup leveraging biotechnology to transform pet food, announced the completion of an $11 million Series A financing round. The round was led by VegInvest, with participation from Radical Investments LP, Felicis Ventures, Founders Fund, Mars Petcare, Bits x Bites, and Vectr. Following this round, the company’s total funding reached $16 million.

Previously, Wild Earth had undergone five rounds of financing. Among them, on March 18, 2019, it completed a $550,000 seed round led by Mark Cuban.

Wild Earth will use the funding to accelerate the development of meat-free food for pet dogs, made from an eco-friendly, renewable fungus that provides a protein containing all 10 essential amino acids. The product is expected to hit the market in the second half of 2019.

Wild Earth, a biotechnology startup headquartered in Berkeley, California, is dedicated to developing high-protein pet foods that are healthier, more environmentally friendly, and more humane than traditional options. The company is led by Chief Scientific Officer Ron Shigeta, Chief Executive Officer Ryan Bethencourt, and “America’s Pet Advocate” Ernie Ward.

“Wild Earth and VegInvest share common values and a foundation of innovation, committed to jointly building a more harmonious food system for humans, the planet, and animals,” said Ryan Bethencourt, CEO of Wild Earth. “VegInvest has extensive experience in helping companies enter the market, which will accelerate the commercialization of our fungal protein dog food.”

“Manufacturing traditional pet food requires raising large numbers of animals, a process that places significant strain on the environment. Wild Earth is dedicated to developing sustainable and humane food options,” said Amy Trakinski, Managing Director of VegInvest. “Our investment in Wild Earth is driven not only by our desire to influence the pet food market, but also by Ryan Bethencourt and his team’s ability to provide valuable leadership to other companies in the field of plant-based innovation.”

Headquartered in New York, VegInvest is dedicated to providing early-stage capital investments to companies in industries such as plant-based foods, alternatives to animal testing, and chain restaurants. VegInvest has identified market opportunities for replacing meat products with fast-food options, as well as more sustainable and scalable solutions. Currently, VegInvest’s portfolio companies include JUST and Veggie Grill.

Radical Investments is a venture capital firm headquartered in Texas, United States, dedicated to investing in oil and gas technology companies.

Felicis Ventures is a venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, dedicated to investing in companies that reshape core markets (such as Credit Karma, Adyen, and Greenhouse) and pioneer cutting-edge technologies (such as Vicarious, Matterport, and Pindrop Security). To date, more than 60 of its portfolio companies have been acquired or gone public, including Rovio, Fitbit, Shopify, Meraki, Twitch, and Dropcam.

Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm dedicated to investing in companies developing revolutionary technologies across all stages of growth. Established in 2005, the firm has raised five funds to date, managing over $2 billion in total capital, with investments spanning aerospace, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, energy, healthcare, and internet consumer sectors. Its partners include investors, founders, and early employees of prominent technology companies such as PayPal, Facebook, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and Palantir Technologies.

Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Mars Petcare is one of the world’s leading pet care companies, with more than 35,000 employees across 50 countries. Mars Petcare has a portfolio of 41 brands, including PEDIGREE®, IAMS®, WHISKAS®, ROYAL CANIN®, and BANFIELD®.

Bits x Bites is a leading food tech venture capital firm in China, dedicated to investing in startups that address challenges facing the global food system. Its investment targets include innovative companies in agricultural cultivation, production, distribution and logistics, consumer goods, and food services.

Vectr is a Hong Kong-headquartered venture capital firm dedicated to investing in companies undergoing product transformation and expanding their operations into Asia.

(Compiled by He Qiongfeng)