Nowadays, announces it has closed a $7 million oversubscribed seed round which represents one of the highest seed-stage valuations in the category and featured Standard Meat Company, a US meat packer operating in Texas since 1935. This brings the total raise close to $10M.
The San Francisco based company launched what it claimed to be the healthiest nugget on the market – containing just seven ingredients according to the company – last May, with founders Max Elder and Dominik Grabinski stating their mission to shake up the processed junk food meat category. Grabinski previously worked for Cargill and DSM, and Elder was advisor to Nestlé, General Mills and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Nutrition Program.
Nowadays states the seed funding will support commercialization as well as scale the company’s proprietary whole-cut technology platform and expand distribution.
Nowadays’ seed round was led by Stray Dog Capital, with strategic support from Standard Meat Company, a meat processing and packaging company. The backing of the meat manufacturer is key to Nowadays’ approach which can easily plug into existing finishing lines to scale manufacturing. It also marks just the latest meat producer to invest heavily in the plant-based space, following similar moves from Big Meat companies like Cargill, JBS, CP Foods, and Thai Union to name a handful.
Nowadays’ plant-based chicken is currently available direct-to-consumer via its website and will launch into Whole Foods grocery stores later this year.
“At Standard Meat, we are constantly looking ahead to the future, bringing innovation to every aspect of our business. Today, that means investing in and supporting Nowadays and their plant-based meats that will deliver the nutritional benefits flexitarians are craving,” stated Standard Meat CEO & Co-President Ben Rosenthal.
