Serena Williams, Jay-Z, Trevor Noah Help Impossible Foods Raise $300 Million

Today, Impossible Foods announced that it raised $300 million in a Series E funding round backed by an impressive list of celebrities. Led by financial institutions, the round included individual investors Serena Williams, Jay Brown, Kirk Cousins, Jay-Z, Trevor Noah, Alexis Ohanian, Kal Penn, Katy Perry, Questlove, Ruby Rose, Phil Rosenthal, Jaden Smith, will.i.am, and Zedd. Impossible Foods has raised more than $750 million to date and will use the new funding to expand its capacity, adding a third shift to its production lines, in order to meet demand, some of which was created by the nationwide expansion of Burger King’s Impossible Whopper. “We have cracked the molecular code for meat and built an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio and brand,” David Lee, Chief Financial Officer for Impossible Foods, said. “Our global financial partners are supporting a technology powerhouse that will transform the global food system.” In addition to scaling up its in-demand Impossible Burger—which it aims to debut in the retail sector this year—the company plans to diversify its products to include plant-based replacements for all animal products, including dairy, by 2035.