About Impact Food's 500K Raise To Make Delicious Seafood Without Fish
Impact Food, the food technology company developing novel plant-based seafood, is backed by Future Food Fund, Serpentine Ventures, Ahimsa Foundation and others. They closed $500,000 in strategic angel & VC funding earlier this year towards their R&D for delicious seafood made from plants.
Founded in 2021 by UC Berkeley alumni Kelly Pan, Stephanie Claudino Daffara, and Adrian Miranda, this California-based company is reimagining a more resilient and sustainable food system through hyper-realistic whole-cut plant-based seafood, starting with their plant-based sushi-grade tuna. The company decided to start with tuna because the Pacific Bluefin Tuna is currently listed as a Near Threatened species with decreasing population numbers” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Impact Food is developing proprietary technology to replicate the complex texture, taste, nutritional profile, and overall sensory experience of conventional animal-based seafood. The company opened an R&D lab at KitchenTown in San Mateo with the support of distinguished food science and strategic advisors. Rusty Schwartz, CEO and Founder of KitchenTown stated: "When I first tried Impact Food's early prototypes I already thought it was better than anything I had tried before. I knew then that they would be the ones to bring alternative seafood to the mass market.”
Due to oceanic stresses such as overfishing and climate change, all species of wild seafood—from tuna to sardines—will collapse by 2050 as predicted by a study in the Nov. 3 issue of the journal Science. Despite bleak predictions, global demand for seafood is expected to double by 2050. In order to prevent a collapse in our food system, the world needs to rapidly transition to a more sustainable food system with plant-based alternatives.
Impact Food is using the new funds to accelerate their R&D efforts and build out a scalable food technology platform for plant-based seafood.
Here are some comments from our partners:
“We’re excited about Impact Food’s new technology and are proud to partner with them to bring plant-based seafood to our sales channels in the US and Japan”
“Future Food Fund’s investment in Impact Food Inc. was motivated by the company’s drive to provide a sustainable solution to global social issues. We see an opportunity for plant-based seafood developed by Impact Food Inc. in the Japanese market, and with our limited partners, we are looking forward to supporting the market development of Impact Food in Japan.”
“We are delighted to join the journey of Impact Food to revolutionize the Seafood space, which is still underserved in terms of plant-based alternatives. After meeting the team, I was convinced by the skills they bring to the table and their motivation, which convinced us to make one of our first investments in the USA.”
“Our oceans are dying, and the world’s demand for fish is the reason! We need an ethical, sustainable, and healthy solution. Ahimsa Foundation is excited to invest in Impact Food, as their work in creating a solution to this challenge is exemplary. Great taste, texture and nutrition for a plant based fish alternative.”
The company aims to bring their product to foodservice in the near future and provide their novel plant-based seafood for a wide breadth of culinary experiences, including but not limited to poke, sushi, and ceviche.
As reported in the FAO’s State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2022 Report, the fraction of fishery stocks within biologically sustainable levels has continued to decrease at unhealthy levels. About a third of the world’s fish stocks are overexploited and we’re continuing to catch fish quicker than they can reproduce, so it is critical that we take action to keep fish in the sea and allow our oceans to recover from decades of ecological damage.
“We’re excited to pioneer this new wave of seafood with the increasing number of alternative seafood companies, all working towards the same mission of saving the ocean from overfishing. Together, we can help the ecosystem recover from climate change and decades of ecological damage.” said Kelly Pan, Co-Founder and CEO of Impact Food.