US: Next Gen Foods eyes US expansion following $20m Seed round extension

  • 13 July 2021
Singapore plant-based start-up to fund US recruitment and product launch following record Seed round
Next Gen Foods to expand into leading US plant-based market with its TiNDLE chicken-style product

Singapore-based foodtech company Next Gen Foods has announced a $20 million extension to its recent Seed round, taking the total amount raised to $30 million.

Funds will be used to launch the start-up’s plant-based chicken brand TiNDLE in the US, with 50 new employees to be hired across R&D, sales, supply chain, finance and marketing roles.

The capital will also be put towards further expansion in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East, with an R&D facility to be built in Singapore.

Investors in the round included Global Fund GGV Capital, Chinese foodtech VC Bits x Bites and leading Asian food & beverage company Yeo Hiap Seng.

Existing investors Temasek and K3 Ventures also participated.

“The United States is the world’s biggest market for plant-based foods and we are already putting our foundations in place to be in-market within the next 12 months as we accelerate our goal of becoming the world’s number one plant-based chicken,” Next Gen Foods co-founder and CEO Andre Menezes said.

Next Gen chief marketing officer (CMO) Jean Madden added: “Following our March 2021 TiNDLE launch, we have expanded to three key markets, and we expect to be in more than five by end-2021, a mark that some leading brands do not cross after years of existence.

“We are scaling at this incredibly fast pace with our asset-lite business model, distribution network, talent, and collaborations with great chefs and hot restaurants,” Madden said.

Next Gen was launched with founder capital of $2.2 million in October 2020.

TiNDLE products are currently sold in over 70 restaurants in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau.