Forbes: Vegan Burgers to Bring Food Security to Asia

In a recent feature, media outlet Forbes explored the motivation behind financial interest in plant-based company Impossible Foods. Earlier this month, the company—maker of the popular Impossible Burger—raised $75 million in funding from several major firms and individuals, including Singapore-based Temasek. The brand also received an early stage investment of $108 million in 2015 from a group of investors, including Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-Shing. “We look for opportunities to support growth across our portfolio,” Temasek Associate Director of Public Affairs Paul Ewing-Chow said. “This includes technology pioneers and disruptors, and in the case of Impossible Foods … food security.” Current predictions by the United Nations place the world population at more than 9 billion by 2050, and several companies are tackling the impending food shortage by developing both plant-based and “clean” meat (or “cultured” meat grown from a small number of animal cells in a lab setting) solutions to replace the unsustainable practice of animal agriculture. Earlier this week, Richard Branson—a new investor in clean-meat company Memphis Meats—said that in 30 years, the world would consume an entirely plant-based and clean-meat diet.