Investing in chickpea: InnovoPro nets US$18m as plant-based ecosystem evolves amid COVID-19

05 Nov 2020 --- InnovoPro has secured US$18 million from investors, including Rabobank, as part of a second funding round. The deal, led by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), comes as consumers demand healthier and more sustainable clean label plant-based solutions.

The Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund, part of Rabobank’s investment arm Rabo Corporate Investments, joined InnovoPro’s series B funding as the global food ecosystem continues to evolve in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“InnovoPro will use the additional funding to scale up operational capabilities through increased production capacity and for further business development activities, including forming joint ventures with strategic partners,” says Taly Nechushtan, CEO of InnovoPro. 

“As part of our sustainable growth strategy, we will also use the added funding to explore production collaboration options for our protein and future products in the EU to expand our EU supply chain capabilities,” she explains. 

The pandemic has raised worldwide awareness of healthier foods and better food processing standards.A new reality?
“The COVID-19 crisis has created a new reality, positioning food security as an essential need,” says JVP founder and chairman Dr. Erel Margalit. 

“The significant decrease in world trade and available employees on farms creates the need to be self-sustainable at all times. Additionally, the pandemic has raised worldwide awareness of healthier foods and better food processing standards. This has increased the need for creating sustainable solutions and innovation in the changing world of what we eat,” he says. 

Sustainability footprint
“We first engaged with InnovoPro through the bank’s global start-up discovery platform, FoodBytes! by Rabobank, and have followed its progress and success closely since,” says Richard O’Gorman, managing director of Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund.

“In line with the more informed and sophisticated consumer, novel plant-based protein solutions are coming under greater scrutiny in the context of their nutrition and sustainability footprint.”

With its high protein, fiber, iron and other characteristics, chickpea leads to a more nutritious alternative. It allows for cleaner labeling with no need for the emulsifiers, enhancers or masking agents necessary with competing analogs. 

Chickpea is a sustainable source, driven by crop characteristics such as comparatively lower water usage and carbon footprint with rotational qualities.

“We believe chickpea will be a leader in the next wave of non-animal protein sources. We are very proud to back InnovoPro and look forward to scaling the company with an expert management team and strong group of investors,” O’Gorman maintains. 

Plant-based tech proliferatesChickpea is high in protein, fiber, iron and allows for cleaner labeling. 
InnovoPro was founded in 2015. It developed a proprietary extraction process to concentrate protein from chickpea. This functional protein can serve as a clean label enabler for plant-based products, including dairy-free yogurts, vegan ice cream, vegetarian burgers and energy bars.

InnovoPro is the first company to develop and launch a 70 percent protein concentrate from chickpeas, with exceptional properties of a neutral taste, high functionality and high nutritional values. 

InnovoPro’s plant-based protein boasts multiple benefits. It is non-GMO, free of phytoestrogens, has no aftertaste and is not listed as an allergen. These properties render it highly suitable for developing a broad range of food products that meet various demands from diverse target audiences across the globe.

Food-tech investments reached US$4.8 billion during the first half of 2020, compared to US$7 billion throughout 2019 and the scope of assets is expected to continue to rise rapidly. 

This latest investment is a natural addition to Rabo Corporate Investment’s global capital investment allocation of €2.1 billion (US$2.4 billion). 

The investment will further strengthen its presence in the plant-based protein market, which is currently estimated globally at US$40 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11 percent to US$75 billion by 2027.

Edited by Elizabeth Green