Meati Foods, a producer of animal-free, whole-food protein made from mushroom root, opened its largest production facility in Thornton, CO, in part financed by its oversubscribed Series C round. The company's total funding to date is more than $250 million.

The "Mega Ranch" is a fully integrated, resource-efficient manufacturing operation that is expected to cultivate Meati at an annual rate of tens of millions of pounds by late 2023, making it a producer of animal-free protein at a scale that will match and even exceed that of the largest individual animal-based ranches in the US.

“Investors and consumers recognize that Meati is a new, differentiated food,” said Tyler Huggins, CEO and co-founder of Meati Foods. “They only need to read our simple ingredient list and taste Meati to recognize that this is the cut-through option people have been waiting for – something they absolutely see weekly if not daily on their plates. Our belief that nature already has the answer to many of today’s challenges allowed us to unlock a new food with Meati at a time when consumers are demanding something different and better. Meati delivers an unparalleled food with its taste, texture, nutrition, and purity, and we’re thrilled to open this first phase of the resource-efficient ‘Mega Ranch’ facility to help even more consumers add it to their diets.”

Designed to scale Meati to an omnichannel, national footprint by late 2023, the Mega Ranch has a vertically integrated approach, with the growing, harvesting, processing, and packaging of Meati products under one roof. Able to grow a teaspoon of spores into hundreds of cows’ equivalent of whole food protein in just a few days, Meati’s proprietary production processes coupled with its unique mushroom root create a nearly infinitely scalable platform. The Eat Meati product line is produced at the Mega Ranch. Meati products have quickly and repeatedly sold out online, and consumers have continued to embrace Meati products through the company’s retail and foodservice partners, including Sprouts Farmers Market, Sweetgreen, and Birdcall. 

“The next few years will see a seismic shift in how we eat, and Meati’s state-of-the-art, scalable production capabilities coupled with its focus on meeting consumer needs for clean, whole-food protein position the brand to lead,” said Fazeela Abdul Rashid, partner at Revolution Growth and member of the Meati Foods board. “Tyler and the team have a vision for a new food category with pure ingredients and taste that doesn’t compromise. We are excited to continue working with them to reach the next level and bring Meati to more consumers across the US.”