News

Burger King all in for doing the 'Impossible' as Impossible Foods adds $300M in funding

May 14, 2019

After a successful test in St. Louis, Burger King is taking the plant-based Impossible Whopper to three more markets beginning May 14 in Miami, as well as Columbus, Georgia and Montgomery, Alabama, a news release said. 

The flame-grilled patty made from plants is topped with tomatoes and onions, lettuce, mayo, ketchup and pickles on that all-important sesame seed bun, and to promote the expanded availability the brand's Whopper Tour Bus will roll through each new market for a limited time, offering games, music and free swag. The tour kicks off in Miami from May 16-18, then moves to Columbus, Georgia on May 20-21 and finally ends its travels in Montgomery on May 22. 

This April, Burger King boasts that it became the "first coast-to-coast quick-service restaurant" to serve the plant-based sandwich, though the less populous and more regional White Castle chain was actually the first QSR to offer the product in its Impossible Slider. 

But any way you put it, the Redwood City, California-based parent company behind the burger, Impossible Foods is soaring in popularity and is now actually available in more than 7,000 restaurants nationwide. In fact, today the company said it recently undertook a $300 million Series E funding round, led by existing investors Temasek and Horizons Ventures, according to a news release.

The fifth equity funding round since Impossible Foods was launched in 2011 is intended to accelerate the company's rapid scaleup — including accelerated hiring and capacity expansion at the company's plant in Oakland, California. In total, the industry-leading food tech startup has raised more than $750 million.

In addition to blue chip institutional investors, the Series E round includes individual investors including Jay Brown, Kirk Cousins, Paul George, JAY-Z, Trevor Noah, Alexis Ohanian, Kal Penn, Katy Perry, Questlove, Ruby Rose, Phil Rosenthal, Jaden Smith, Serena Williams, will.i.am and Zedd.

"We have cracked the molecular code for meat and built an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio and brand," said David Lee, chief financial officer for Impossible Foods. "Our global financial partners are supporting a technology powerhouse that will transform the global food system."

Currently, the product is available in larger restaurant chains like the aforementioned Burger King and White Castle, as well as Qdoba, Red Robin and theme parks, museums, stadiums and college campuses. The product is proving successful internationally too, with reports that after its March 2019 launch in  Singapore, sales have increased in Asia more than three-fold.