Deal of the Week: Prominent family capital backs alternative protein producer

The family investment trend for funding sustainable supply chain solutions continues this week with news that Geltor, a Californian producer of non-animal proteins, has closed a $91.3 million Series B funding round led by a UK family office, with two other family-backed groups backing the deal.

Founded in 2015 by Alexander Lorestani and Nick Ouzounov, Geltor has created the world’s largest selection of sustainably cultivated designer proteins that are 100% animal-free and able to be used by brands and manufacturers across a wide range of sectors from cosmetics to the food and drinks industries.

The funding was led by London based CPT Capital, the family office of UK private equity investor Jeremy Coller. Also backing the round were 10 other investors including WTT Investment, believed to be a Hong Kong-based investment group owned by local billionaire Peter Woo and his family. One of the returning investors was RIT Capital Partners, an investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange and owned by Jacob Rothschild.

Geltor has proved itself to be innovative not only in the production of its proteins but in the cultivation of them too. Since Covid-19 began, it has managed to avoid any supply chain issues associated with the crisis. In fact, it was able to scale its fermentation-based technology platform “100 times” and produce hundreds of new non-animal proteins for its customers, according to the company.

While CPT Capital is already an established investor in the alternative proteins space, their capital investment director, Costa Yiannoulis, was impressed with the vast market opportunities Geltor offered: “We see huge market potential for Geltor’s protein platform across categories from cosmetics to food. We are excited by the speed and skill with which they are building out their capabilities,” he said in a press statement on the investment.

Geltor plans to use the funding to facilitate the growing demand from global CPG companies for sustainable and animal-free ingredients.