KBW Ventures announced on Thursday that it has participated in the $1.2 million seed funding round for biotech-based pet food company in the United States.

The Saudi venture capital firm said the funding for Colorado-based Bond Pet Foods would support the company’s research and development efforts in the area of animal-free meat proteins.

It said the seed round was led by Lever VC, a venture capital fund specialising in alternative protein investments, and other participants included Agronomics, Plug and Play Ventures, Galloway and Andante Asset Management.

KBW Ventures’ founder and Chief Executive Officer Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed told Zawya by email that his company joined the seed round excited by the US company’s proprietary technology.

Bond Pet Foods employs the same fermentation technology used to produce ingredients for cheese making or insulin for diabetics but adjusted to harvest high-quality meat proteins like chicken, turkey, beef, and fish sans the animal.

“The technology and science behind Bond products is in line with our values; we want to back ventures that are commercially-promising and that seek sustainable solutions,” he said.

The company is set to launch its first product in the first quarter of 2020.

The global pet food market was valued at $87.08 billion in 2018 and is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 5.4 percent from 2019 to 2024, according to market advisory firm Mordor Intelligence.

(Writing by Anoop Menon; editing by Mily Chakrabarty)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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