April 19, 2024

• 

Plant-based meat developer and startup Gikuin Company announced Oct. 14 that it had secured 4 billion won ($3.38 million) in series A round funding from multiple investors.

According to the company, the investors included Primer Sazze Partners, SG Dinehill, Michigan Venture Capital, A Ventures and Yellowdog.

Including the recent funding, the Korean startup has received 4.6 billion won so far.

Over the past year and a half, Gikuin Company has worked to develop a meat alternative called “Unlimeat,” made mainly from brown rice, oats and nuts. The company has a unique technology that it uses to mimic the taste of animal-based meat.

“With the new fund, we aim to establish a factory that can produce alternative meat, which was developed with our revolutionary technology,” Gikuin Company CEO Min Geum-chae told The Investor.

The company is preparing to launch its Unlimeat this month, along with dumplings made with the product.

The Korean startup also discussed its plans to expand globally. “We are also going to use our funding to enter markets including the US, Europe, India and Thailand,” Min added.

Gikuin Company was founded in 2017 by Min Geum-chae, former product planning head at Baemin Cook, a pilot grocery delivery service team from South Korea’s leading food delivery app operator, Woowa Brothers.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)