Vegan Cheese Brand GOOD PLANeT Foods Raises $12 Million

This week, Washington-based vegan company GOOD PLANeT Foods announced that it raised $12 million in a Series A funding led by venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue with participation from other investment firms. Currently, the company offers a variety of coconut oil-based vegan cheeses in shreds (Mozzarella, Smoked Mozzarella, Paremsan, and Cheddar); and slices (American, Garlic & Herb, Smoked Provolone, Cheddar, and Hot Pepper). “Our mission continues to be developing great tasting cheeses that are ‘GOOD for YOU and GOOD for the PLANeT,’” David Israel, GOOD PLANeT founder and CEO, said. “We are gaining significant momentum and will continue to play a significant role in increasing awareness of the plant-based foods category. By partnering with these strategic investors, we’ll be able to move forward more aggressively with additional focus on product development, sales and marketing.”

On March 1, fast-food chain White Castle began testing vegan cheddar cheese made by GOOD PLANeT Foods as a complementing option to its meatless Impossible Slider at its locations in New York and New Jersey. GOOD PLANeT also announced plans to expand its retail product line with a Plant-Based Frozen Pizza which features GOOD PLANeT’s coconut oil-based cheese and is topped with vegan sausage made by Beyond Meat. 

“Consumers are expecting great-tasting foods that also support environmental sustainability. GOOD PLANeT Foods delivers on those expectations,” Don Thompson, CEO and Founder of Cleveland Avenue, said. “We’re excited to partner with GOOD PLANeT Foods and this impressive group of investors to continue to build on this growth opportunity in the plant-based category.”

In the last decade, plant-based protein companies (which includes producers of meat, egg, and dairy alternatives) raised $2.7 billion in venture capital—45 percent of which was raised in 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 alone.