Prime Roots, a plant-based alternative protein startup in Berkeley, has raised $30 million in a Series B round as it gears up to expand its retail footprint this year.
The Series B round brings its total funding to $50 million. Investors in the Series B round include True Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Top Tier Capital, Diamond Edge Ventures, SOSV/IndieBio, Solasta Ventures, Monde Nissan, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, Meach Cove Capital and The House Fund.
Founded by CEO Kimberlie Le in 2017, Prime Roots develops plant-based alternatives to traditional meat products like ham, cured meats, turkey and bacon.
The company uses a fermentation process with a protein-rich type of mycelium that's a staple in traditional Asian cooking, called koji, to produce a plant-based proteins that mimic the muscle fibers of real meat.
"I grew up fermenting koji when I was younger with my mom, since I was 4 years old. We'd ferment everything from soybeans for different pastes (and) rice. So, I had a lot of experience with koji growing up," Le told me in an interview last year.
Koji also "has a very similar texture to the roots of mushrooms. It's very fibrous in texture and it's neutral tasting," making it a good base for other flavors, she said.
The company also uses rice bran and coconut oils as a replacement for animals fats. And its product line includes flavors like cracked pepper turkey, black forest ham, hickory bacon, salami and pepperoni.
Originally from Alberta, Canada, Le moved to Berkeley in 2013 to attend UC Berkeley, where she ultimately developed the idea for Prime Roots.
As an undergraduate student, she was working toward a triple major in microbiology, environmental studies and legal studies while also pursuing a double minor in music and food systems.
During that time, she entered a program at Berkeley's Alternative Meat Lab and realized that koji-based proteins could become commercially successful.
She then accepted a Peter Thiel fellowship, which offers emerging entrepreneurs $100,000 to leave college and focus on building a company instead.
Prime Roots' products are technically vegan, but its target consumers are meat eaters who may be looking for ways to reduce, but not eliminate, meat from their diet.
"Almost everybody that works at Prime Roots is a meat eater. When we're developing our products, we actually eat regular ham next to our ham. We're not shy of actually understanding what ham is, and really trying to make an experience that meets our needs as meat eaters," Le told me. "That's a really big part of the development process. Making sure that it's the same experience or better experience than you're expecting from your ham or your turkey."
The company launched its first products last fall with a handful of Bay Area food service partners including BiRite Market, Berkeley Bowl and Rhea's Deli. It now has more than one dozen deli and restaurant partners that serve its deli meat alternatives and will be ramping up for a national expansion this year.
Le was also chosen as one of the San Francisco Business Times' 40 Under 40 honorees in 2022.
