Meat Substitute Startups in Queensland Fable has raised US$8.5 million (A$12.3 million) to accelerate its expansion in global markets.
The round was led by VC 3 Ventures in Singapore, led by Better Bite Ventures, former YUM CEO Greg Creed, Australian ethicist and animal rights activist Professor Peter Singer and SaladStop founder Frantz Braha. and Adrien Desbaillet, supported by TV star Osher Günsberg and his wife Audrey. Griffen, TV producer Michael Simkin. Existing investors Blackbird, AgFunder and Aera VC also participated.
Fable also has Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes on the cap table through his family fund Grok and British chef Heston Blumenthal.
This funding comes 18 months after Fable raised $6.5 million in its 2021 seed round.
Based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Fable was launched in December 2019 by former Shoes of Prey co-founder Michael Fox, chef and mycologist Jim Fuller, and organic mushroom farmer Chris McLoghlin. was co-founded by
fable It launched a variety of ready-to-eat foods, making vegetarian “meat” from shiitake stems to mimic beef brisket and pulled pork.
![](https://www.startupdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Credit-Fable-Food-Co-Jim-Fuller-with-Zac-Efron-Darin-Olien-300x198.jpg)
Fable co-founder Jim Fuller (middle) with Darrin Orien and Zac Efron, co-presenters of the Netflix series Down to Earth
The cash injection will accelerate research and development, new mushroom product launches and international expansion with a focus on North America, the UK and Singapore.
Next month, Fable will expand its U.S. footprint with the nationwide launch of mushroom burger slider patties at STK Steakhouse, the chain’s first plant-based menu option.
Taking one leaf out of V2foods’ playbook, a joint venture between CSIRO and Hungry Jacks founder Jack Cowin, Fox and the Fable team built their brand through fast food outlets, including local burgers. . Chains Grill’d, Guzman y Gomez and The Coffee Club serving mushroom burger patties, and British chain Honest Burgers, a plant-based brand in the US beatnik (formerly By Chloe), Hell Pizza in New Zealand, Salad Stop in Singapore!
You can also find Fable products in your local supermarket.
Last year, Fable expanded into the UK through meal delivery companies Gousto and Planty, and supermarket brand Planet Organic.
Fable kicks off 2023 with new US partnerships, including New York-based food delivery service CookUnity and a cult plant-based restaurant chain. butcher’s daughterand Canadian meal delivery service Ethey.
The North American push reveals the ambitions of Fox and friends to take over the power and capital of Silicon Valley-backed Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. These companies have so far failed to deliver the traction and transformation promised by their founders.
Trendy or fab?
recent bloomberg Labeled plant-based fake meat as ‘just a fad’”.
Fox, who has been a vegetarian for the past six years, is equally ambitious as Fable’s CEO on his “mission to end industrial farming.”
“We want to encourage the world to make more sustainable food choices,” he said.
“We believe that eating tastier, meatier foods with mushrooms will help reduce the world’s consumption of meat without compromising taste, texture or experience. It’s a way to make it happen.”
![berger, heston blumenthal, fable](https://www.startupdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Credit-Southworks-Creative-Fable-Brioche-Burgers-with-BBQ-Sauce-by-Heston-Blumenthal-298x200.jpg)
Heston Blumenthal’s Fable Brioche Burger.Photo: Southworks Creative
K3 Ventures managing partner says Fable is “reshaping the future of food” by using mushrooms as an alternative plant protein compared to legumes used in rival products .
“We are thrilled to be part of the next phase of Fable’s growth and to support Fable’s ambition to combat arguably one of the greatest challenges of our time, climate change,” he said. said.
Greg Creed, former global CEO of the company behind KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, said Fable is identifying one of the biggest challenges in food: flavor.
“After working in the consumer goods and food industry for 40 years, first at Unilever and then at YUM Brands, I have witnessed the changing demands of consumers around the world regarding what they eat. We’ve seen a lot of fads and gimmicks along the way, but we know one thing consumers never compromise on is taste,” he said.
“Fable has nailed the intersection of health, sustainability and taste with a range of mushroom products. collected, but it was their team and mission that secured their investment.
“The Fable team intends to combine our obsession with mushrooms and clean ingredients with real-world experience to navigate disruption and reach consumers around the world.”
Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University, said: