Better Dairy has secured $22 million in Series A funding, which will allow it to get its aged and hard cheeses into the testing phase.
The U.K.-based company is still in the R&D phase of developing animal-free cheeses. Nagarajah and Better Dairy raised over 1.5 million dollars in seed funding in a round led by Happiness Capital.
He explained that animal-based dairy farming needed 650 liters of water to produce just 1 liter of milk and that the process that emits the equivalent of 1.7 billion tonnes of CO 2 into the atmosphere was unsustainable.
Better Dairy is using a different method to make products that are similar to traditional dairy. The end result of the process is dairy.
Better Daily is targeting hard cheeses, a process that is more complex, in a more sustainable way than other food tech companies.
The image is called Better Dairy.
Hard cheese has limitations similar to trying to create animal-free steak.
Happiness Capital is participating in the Series A as a co-lead. They are joined by Manta Ray, Acequia Capital and Stray Dog Capital.
Better Dairy isn't the only one going after the dairy space. There are companies working on animal-alternative cheese and dairy products. Nagarajah believes that the new funding will help the company get out ahead of the competition and become the first player to launch hard cheeses in this space.
The company is going to expand its workforce from eight people to 35 and build a new 6,000- square-foot laboratory and office space in East London.
Better Dairy is working on the science to nail down texture and maturation so that all of the components can come together under one product that has a shelf life. In the next 18 months or so, Nagarajah expects the price of the cheese to be the same as that of similar artisan cheeses.
He said that they need the right space and equipment to upgrade their science. It becomes a benchmark for success if it tastes better. If it's not done the right way, the time it takes to untangle it all could take years.
Looking Beyond Meat, the future of food investment looks pretty cheesy
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