Sentient Ventures has made a trio of investments in the plant-based space worth a combined £2m.
The fund – launched last year by the team behind Veg Capital – is backing plant-based cheesemonger La Fauxmagerie, vegan pizzeria Purezza and plant-based chicken maker Rebellyous.
La Fauxmagerie is founded by sisters Charlotte and Rachel Stevens and claims to be the UK’s first plant-based cheesemonger. It has a store in London and has also recently launched in 104 Waitrose stores, with a nationwide rollout planned.
Founded by Stefania Evangelisti and Tim Barclay, Purezza has four UK locations (in London, Bristol, Brighton and Manchester), as well as a retail line of pizza cheeses.
Seattle-based Rebellyous was launched by former Boeing engineer Christie Lagally, who is using her expertise to develop “the most advanced plant-meat production technique on the planet”.
La Fauxmagerie said with the backing of Sentient it now had the ability to “aggressively” scale the manufacturing division and build the team, leading to the Waitrose listing.
“It has further enabled us to supercharge our manufacturing capacity so that we can finally meet the unprecedented demand for our products,” Charlotte Stevens added.
“It’s truly heartening to have found an investor who shares our vision, drive, and values.”
Sentient co-founder Alexandra Clark said: “We are living with a food system that pollutes, destroys habitats, drives climate breakdown, decimates wildlife, uses too much land, wastes too much water, raises pandemic potential, drives antibiotic resistance, and condemns billions of sentient creatures to slaughter.
“Around 80 billion animals are killed for food every year: if humans were killed at the same rate, we’d be extinct in about a month. By supporting these amazing female founders, we are disrupting this system to bring humane, healthier, and more sustainable products to market.”
All three of the businesses backed by Sentient are female-founded. The investment firm added that female entrepreneurs remained “chronically underfunded”, receiving just 1p from every £1 of VC funding in the UK.
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