Meati Foods, Creators of Fungi-Based Vegan “Steaks,” Raises $28 Million

We’ll be the first to admit it: Sometimes, when we’re all tofu-d out, we dream of a nice, medium-rare steak, but when we consider our reason for going plant-based, a bite of red meat doesn't seem worth the steep price to pay ethically, environmentally or health-wise.

Well, we’re excited to announce there may soon be an equally satisfying but cruelty-free way to satisfy our hankering for steak. Boulder startup Meati Foods recently finished a series A fundraising round of $28 million to continue its mission to bring high-quality, fungi-based meat alternatives to the public.

Meati Foods crafts their products—so far a chicken breast-like and steak-like creation— with an edible type of mycelium, that’s science-speak for “the thread-like vegetative component of fungi.” Their meat alternative provides essential vitamins and minerals, along with 16 grams of satisfying protein and one-fifth of daily fiber needs per Meati meat serving.

In addition to having a stellar nutrition profile and crave-worthy taste, Meati is also good for the environment, with the team has created a proprietary process to cultivate its fast-growing mycelium in-house without the use of any harsh chemicals and in an extremely resource-efficient manner.

“We started Meati Foods to deliver nutrient-rich, energizing food in an enjoyable and familiar way, while also diversifying our food system with an offering that reduces costs to people and our environment,” said Tyler Huggins, Meati Foods’ CEO and co-founder, in a company press release.

Riffing on that statement, Justin Whiteley, the company’s CTO and co-founder, added “At Meati Foods, we simply harness a natural process and carry it out in a controlled and safe environment. We believe it is important to work with nature, not extract from it, to create a more resilient and healthy food ecosystem.”

Meati Foods anticipates putting this recently raised money where our mouths are: They are planning to ramp up its production for both retail and foodservice, along with hiring new team members and building a top-notch production facility. Currently, they’re only producing limited-edition, hand-crafted batches of fungi-based products.

We can’t wait for the day when sizzling up a steak dinner on the grill doesn’t harm any animals in the process. Who’s with us?