According to the Good Food Institute, some $5 billion was invested in the development of plant-based alternatives to seafood, meat, eggs, and dairy items in 2021, a 60% increase from a year earlier.
Since 2010, alternative protein companies have raised almost $11.1 billion in investment capital but 73% of that, or $8 billion, has been invested just since 2020.
"The investor community is beginning to see the huge potential of alternative proteins to transform our food system, as well as the strong potential to meet their target returns," said Sharyn Murray, GFI senior investor engagement specialist.
Cultivated meat and seafood companies secured $1.4 billion in investments in 2021, according to GFI—the most capital raised in any single year in the industry’s history and more than three times the $400 million raised in 2020.
“Cultivated meat companies have raised $1.9 billion in invested capital since the first disclosed investment in the industry in 2016, and more than 70% of this was raised in 2021 alone,” GFI stated. Plant-based meat, seafood, egg, and dairy companies secured $1.9 billion in investments in 2021, said GFI.