Impossible Foods Eyes $7B Valuation, Founder Hints At ‘Inevitable’ IPO

Impossible Foods is reportedly looking to raise $500 million in a new funding round that would bring its valuation to $7 billion. The reports come as the Silicon Valley food tech’s founder and CEO Pat Brown made clear the firm’s intentions to go public soon, describing an IPO as “inevitable” in a Bloomberg interview. 

Impossible Foods is reported to be in discussions about a new $500 million fundraising round, which would value the company at around $7 billion, according to Bloomberg. Terms of the round have not yet been finalised and subject to change, but the figure would put Impossible’s valuation higher than its rival Beyond Meat. Beyond’s market value is around $6.2 billion as of Thursday (November 4), and Impossible’s last valuation was around $4 billion in 2020. 

Impossible IPO soon

The report comes as Impossible’s CEO Pat Brown made comments suggesting that a public listing will soon be on the cards. Reports of Impossible’s IPO had already been circulating since April this year, when it was reported that the company was looking for a valuation of around $10 billion, possibly through a SPAC deal.

This week, Brown told Bloomberg reporter Chloe Sorvino in an interview at Food Tech Congress that it was “inevitable” for the maker of the famous “bleeding” plant-based burger to float on the stock market. 

“At some point we will go public, but not any specified time in the future,” said Brown. “There’s a couple of reasons why it’s inevitable. You have easier access to capital to support growth, but more importantly to me, there are millions of non-billionaires out there who are very, very supportive of our mission but they don’t have a chance to share in our success.”

“They would love to support the future of their planet and their kids and grandkids’ future, but they can’t invest in Impossible Foods. I don’t like that.”

‘I want our shares to be available to the general public’

Brown went on to reiterate that Impossible, which is currently backed by big name shareholders such as billionaire Li Ka-shing’s Horizon Ventures, Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures and Jay Z, should be open for the public to invest. 

“I want our shares to be available to the general public. That will happen,” confirmed Brown, without mentioning any further details about when the official announcement would come. Previous reports from Reuters that cited sources close to the matter suggest it will be either late 2021 or early 2022.

Impossible’s global expansion

The buzz around Impossible’s possible $7 billion valuation and IPO ahead comes as the company undergoes a massive global expansion. Over the past 14 months, the firm has brought its plant-based patties to 4 more markets, bringing its total to 7 countries in total. 

Just this week, Impossible entered Australia and New Zealand, with leading chain Grill’d in Australia replacing its Beyond patties with the Impossible Burger across all 150 of its outlets for the launch. It came shortly after the food tech debuted in the UAE, its first Middle East market. 

For Australia, New Zealand and the UAE, Impossible has so far only introduced its flagship plant-based beef patties. The company has doubled down on R&D to expand its offerings lately, adding sausages, pork and chicken nuggets to its range, with these products available in other markets such as the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

All images courtesy of Impossible Foods.