GV, a corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet, has led a $50m series B round for US-based food substitute provider Soylent.
The round, which took Soylent’s total equity funding to $74.5m, also featured investment firm Tao Capital Partners, and venture capital firms Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Soylent, which was launched in 2013 with $3m secured in a crowdfunding campaign, supplies a range of nutritional substitutes including powder-based drinks and a protein bar.
Rob Rhinehart, Soylent’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch it would use the series B capital to extend its products from online sales to brick-and-mortar stores, expand into overseas markets and investigate growing its production base.
GV general partner Andy Wheeler, who joined Soylent’s board of directors in conjunction with the round, said: “Soylent is addressing one of the biggest issues we face today: access to complete, affordable nutrition.
“As one of the pioneers in this space, Soylent is tackling this problem head on with progressive thinking and a clear strategy that has led to outstanding growth.”
The round follows a $20m series A round in early 2015 backed by Lerer Hippeau Ventures, then known as Lerer Ventures, as well as Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures that reportedly valued the company at $100m.
Soylent had previously raised funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Lerer Ventures, Initialized Capital, Hydrazine Capital, Y Combinator and angel investors including Alexis Ohanian.