Boulder's Bond Pet Foods raises $17.5M to expand meat protein portfolio – Denver Business Journal – The Business Journals

Bond Pet Foods, a Boulder-based developer of meatless pet treats, plans to use $17.5 million in new investments to triple its staff, expand its product portfolio and scale production at its manufacturing facility.
The startup announced Wednesday that it completed its Series A financing round. Participating in the oversubscribed round were ADM Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, Genoa Ventures and Lever VC. Several sustainability- and food-tech investors also participated, including Thia Ventures, iSelect Fund, Stage 1 Fund, Lifely VC and Satori Capital.
Music icons Sia Furler and Joan Jett also invested in the Series A round. Bond Pet Foods announced earlier this year that the musicians had invested in the company, and Furler was brought on as an advisor.
“We’re thrilled to welcome this diverse, world-class coalition of investors into the Bond family,” Rich Kelleman, the startup’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “With their support we’ll be able to take our work to the next level, developing and scaling a variety of meat proteins for our valued partners in the pet food space.”
Bond Pet Foods was founded in 2017 and previously raised $2.5 million in seed funding. The company aims to create more sustainable pet food by using a fermentation process to produce “nature-identical” chicken, beef, fish and other meat proteins in its lab.
According to the company, its process is well-established and is similar to processes used to make common food ingredients, such as lactic acid, vitamin B12 and enzymes for cheese production. After processing the proteins, Bond ensures they meet the nutritional requirements of cats and dogs and supplies the ingredients to the manufacturers of pet food and treats.
The startup signed a deal in November with Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a pet food company based in Topeka, Kansas, that distributes its products worldwide. Through the partnership, Bond Pet Foods will develop a meatless alternative to one of Hill’s most popular meat proteins.
“This alternative protein source marks a step forward on our sustainability journey to use science to help provide the best possible care for pets,” Dave Baloga, vice president of science and technology for Hill’s Pet Nutrition, said in a statement. 
Kelleman told the Denver Business Journal at the time that his company would work with Hill’s over the coming years, with Bond’s alternative protein slated to be part of HIll’s product portfolio.
The company’s newest $17.5 million investment will allow it to continue working on its meat proteins. It plans to add employees to bolster its scientific, technical and regulatory competencies, according to Bond.
The startup grew its staff at the end of 2021 from three employees to 10, and it moved into a new, 15,000-square-foot facility in Boulder. The new investment will bolster production at the new space, the company said.
Bond Pet Foods is part of a growing market for meat-alternative pet food. According to research from Insight Partners, a New York City-based venture capital and private equity firm, the vegan pet food market is expected to grow from about $9 million in 2020 to nearly $16 million by 2028.
Insight Partners listed Bond Pet Food among a group of 10 companies currently operating in the vegan pet food market.
Bond said that part of its mission is to cut down on the land, water and energy that are required to process meat for conventional pet foods. A study by the University of California, Los Angeles in 2017 found that meat processed for America’s 163 million dogs and cats releases the equivalent of 64 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.
Jorge Martinez, president of pet solutions at ADM — one of Bond’s new investors — said pet nutrition was an “important growth pillar” for the firm.
“More and more, consumers demand their pets eat the same sustainable, responsibly-produced food that they themselves eat, and proteins produced by precision fermentation are key to being part of the future of the industry,” Martinez said. “We’ve expanded our capabilities in these categories and are proud to be part of the Bond Pet Foods journey, as they offer new opportunities to bring these growth trends together.”
© 2022 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated January 1, 2021) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated July 1, 2022). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals.

source