Saudi VC KBW Ventures invests in US plant-based dairy platform

Saudi venture capital (VC) firm KBW Ventures has invested in Eclipse Foods, a US-based producer of plant-based dairy products.

The VC firm, owned by Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, announced on Wednesday that it participated in the Series B funding round of over $40 million led by Sozo Ventures.

The new funding will be used to grow the business in retail and food service and accelerate R&D on Eclipse’s proprietary plant-based dairy platform, which uses a blend of non-GMO plants, including cassava, corn, and potato, to create plant-based dairy products, from cheeses to spreads to desserts.

Other investors taking part in Series B round are Forerunner Ventures, Initialized Capital and Gaingels.

Bob Roe, Vice President of Narrative Development at Sozo Ventures said: “70 percent of the world’s population is lactose intolerant and with the alternative protein space projected to grow to $1.4 trillion by 2050, Eclipse is positioned to completely transform the dairy industry with its proprietary plant-based dairy platform.”

The latest Series B takes the total funding raised by Eclipse, to date, to more than $60 million.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; editing by Seban Scaria)

anoop.menon@lseg.com