Heura Closes an Investment Round of €40 Million, The Highest in the Plant-Based Sector.
They are the shining star among Spain's plant-based meat startups, advocating for their product as the key player for a protein transition where animals take up less space and plants take up more. They are Heura and they have just closed the largest funding round of 2023 in their sector.
The Catalan startup has successfully concluded its Series B round, securing a record-breaking amount of 40 million euros. Not only is it the most substantial investment in the plant-based protein segment, but it also marks one of the major strategic alliances in the foodtech industry.
Participating in the round are Upfield — a global leader in plant-based foods — Unovis Asset Management, the prominent European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF VC) specializing in food technology, and Newtree Impact.
With the support of these companies, Heura will continue to explore cutting-edge technology to set new standards in the food industry and enhance its impact on consumption, accelerating the path to profitability and strengthening its position as a European leader in its sector.
The Spanish startup emphasizes that "this strategic coalition forms one of the largest plant-based alliances, establishing a board of directors that will focus on developing cutting-edge technologies to set new industry standards and enable Heura to drive its impact in the food industry, accelerate international expansion, and explore new collaboration models beyond its own branded meat alternatives."
Therefore, the company expects this injection to enable profitability, continue driving innovation, and expand its portfolio of technological patents.
In this context, it is worth recalling that in April of the previous year, Heura introduced a patent that allows offering products "with nutritional values never seen before and without additives," as pointed out by the company itself.
"This revolutionary innovation can be applied in multiple categories of plant-based foods, such as deli, dairy, and meat and fish fillets. In contrast to most patents, just five months after the presentation, this pioneering method was applied to produce the market's first additive-free 'York-style' slices," details Heura.