SavorEat (TASE: SVRT) and Millennium Food-Tech (TASE: MIFT) announced today that as part of a $2.5 million financing round led by the R&D Partnership, Millennium Food-Tech has committed to invest $2 million in Egg'n'up (together with financing from the Israel Innovation Authority) against an allocation of Type A shares at a company valuation of $8 million (before money).
Egg'n'up plans to develop plant based egg substitutes, without detracting from the original taste of the egg and its nutritional values. These products (for which an application to file for a patent has been completed) are based on plant sources, using SavorEat's unique cellulose fibers, adapted for the purposes of cooking, baking, frying for eggs needed as an additional ingredient, or the main part of the dish. The target international markets for the company's products are institutional kitchens such as catering chains and food product manufacturers like sauces, pastry products and more.
Subject to the completion of the financing round, Egg'n'up has received initial approval to be included in the grants program of the Israel Innovation Authority, for financing 40% of the investment, against which Millennium and the other investors participating in this investment round will receive options to buy back the shares over the next three years.
In the emerging egg substitutes market, which has large growth potential (as part of a global trend which believes in consuming plant based products), there are several companies operating including US company Just Egg (which recently raised $200 million and has raised $650 million to date, at a company valuation of $1.2 billion); Israeli company Zero Egg (which has so far raised $6.5 million) and German company Terra Vegane. There are good reasons why companies in the market are able to raise millions of dollars. According to research that was recently published by Israel's Good Food Institute (GFI), the alternative proteins market in Israel rose eight-fold between 2018 and 2020 - and as of 2020 was worth $114 million, an annual increase of 154% in 2020 alone.
Millennium Food-Tech CEO Chanan Schneider said, "The global alternative proteins market is continually growing. The figures tell us that there is a need and large demand for egg substitutes in the pastries and other markets. The new company that has been founded brings a different and more preferable solution than its rivals, which has the ability to make it a significant global player in this field."
SavorEat CEO and founding partner Racheli Vizman added, "The successful cooperation with Millennium Food-Tech continues to bear fruit and move the two companies forward towards the aim of providing alternative consumers communities, which need products from nature without compromising on the quality of products and their tastiness and healthiness. We are taking out the huge potential in cellulose fibers that was developed by the parent company SavorEat and we are planning the development of other products and solutions based on the properties of cellulose fibers. We are working tirelessly to strengthen the position of SavorEat and Egg'n'up in the protein alternatives sector, a market with huge growth potential, which will open a new business opportunities for us and allow us to continue to do what we believe in - to provide the global food market with a broad and better choice of options."