Bill Gates backed 'vegan meat' firm files for $1.8b stockmarket listing

Lester Walker of Ghetto Gastro adds the finishing touches as Beyond Meat previews their Beyond Beef product. Photo / AP

Beyond Meat, the manufacturers of plant-based meat substitutes, has filed for an initial public offering in New York.

The Los Angeles-based company which makes vegan burgers, sausages and chicken plans to raise US$184 million ($276m) in the flotation on the Nasdaq.

Its product line, which is available at stores including Countdown, has a number of high-profile investors including Bill Gates and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The news comes after Beyond Meat filed initial paperwork with US regulators to take the company public last November.

Riding a wave of growing popularity of meat-free products, the company has seen significant growth since its creation a decade ago.

Valued at more than US$1.2 billion ($1.8b), it is worth roughly double what it was at its last private financing round. It expects to price its shares between US$19 and US$21 in the offering.

Although the company's revenues have increased, by 450 per cent in two years to US$88m last year, it continues to lose money and wrote in its prospectus that it, "may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability".'

It is the latest tech unicorn, a startup valued at over US$1b, to file to go public in the US this year. Last week, Pinterest and Zoom raised more than US$1.5b floating their stock on the public markets for the first time.

Beyond Meat, like rival food tech startup Impossible Foods, has benefited from a boom in environmentally-conscious eating.

Beyond Meat has a number of high-profile investors including Leonardo DiCaprio. Photo / AP

Targeting meat eaters, the company uses plant-enriched proteins to create products such as the Beyond Burger, which resemble the taste, appearance and texture of a beef patty.

The global market for meat substitute products is expected to grow from US$4.6b today to US$6.4b by 2023, according to research by MarketsandMarkets.

The company caught the eye of Tyson Foods, one of the largest livestock producers in the US, who invested in Beyond Meat in 2016.

- Telegraph Media Group