CSIRO spinout Nourish fattens up on $43 million Series A

Canberra food tech startup Nourish Ingredients has raised US$28.6 million (A$43m) in Series A to produce synthetic fats that make fake meats taste better.

Horizons Ventures – the private investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing – doubled down on the idea, having backed the initial US$11 million raise by Nourish in 2021. Horizon’s Australian investment portfolio includes nanosatellite startup Fleet Space as well as the AI-based healthcare venture Harrison.

Also chipping in again was CSIRO’s deep tech VC arm Main Sequence Ventures, with super fund Hostplus also signing on.

Cofounders James Petrie and Ben Leita met in 2013 while working as scientists at CSIRO, where they spotted the market need for non-animal fats to add flavour to the growing alternative “meats” industry. They founded Nourish in 2019 when the venture was spun out of the government-funded science body.

Nourish produces synthetic fats for food and is hoping to see them used in retail products next year.

The funds will be used to scale production and further product development, and the business has signed partnership deal with the University of Queensland to develop a new range of synthetic foods.

The problem the startup is solving is that plant-based “meats” often use products such as palm and coconut oils for flavour and nutrition in the products, but production of both oils has led to widespread environmental devastation and rainforest destruction.