China plant-based protein player Starfield raises $100m

Existing investors including Sky9 Capital, Joy Capital, Matrix Partners China, and Lightspeed China Partners re-upped.

Founded in 2019, Starfield follows a B2B2C model, accessing end-consumers through business partners such as restaurants and milk tea chains. It claims to have worked with more than 100 brands covering 14,000 outlets.

In 2020, it teamed up with Dicos - a Chinese equivalent of KFC with 2,600 branches nationwide - to sell plant-based chicken burgers. This was followed by tie-ups with Luckin Coffee, which has 5,200 outlets, and tea chain Heytea. Starfield and Heytea are working on a black pepper beef dish that is supposed to imitate the structure and texture of a whole piece of beef.

The new funding will go towards R&D. Starfield offers a range of plant-based pork, beef, and chicken products, and looks to push boundaries in terms of the form these take. For example, it recently released sliced ham and beef lines, with the latter intended to taste like pastrami.

In addition, the company has built its first dedicated factory in Hubei province, which is intended to enhance quality and cost controls. Having in-house facilities also increases product iteration efficiency, so that Starfield can respond quickly to evolving customer demand. This is considered important given the rate at which plant-based proteins are developing industry-wide.

Protein replacement is a global trend, with the US leading the way. However, Asia-based start-ups hope to gain an advantage by creating products that appeal to local tastes. While the likes Impossible and Beyond prioritise ground beef products, Starfield focuses on pork and chicken, which are consumed in greater volumes in Asia.

Starfield closed three rounds in 2020. Joy, Matrix, and New Crop Capital provided angel funding; Sky9 Capital, Joy, and Matrix backed the Series A; and all three joined Lightspeed in a CNY 100m (USD 16m) Series A extension.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• Cleantech
• Consumer
• China
• Primavera
• Sky9 Capital
• Joy Capital
• Matrix Partners