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Impossible Foods raised $500 million in a Series F round, bringing its total funding to nearly $1.3 billion.

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Mirae Asset Global Investments, a new backer, led the round, according to a statement from the company. Existing investors, including Khosla Ventures and Temasek Holdings, also participated. The last time Impossible Foods raised money was in May 2019, when it pulled $300 million for its Series E round.

The new round will be used to invest in research, scale up manufacturing, grow the company’s retail presence and presence in certain international markets, and popularize its pork and sausage products.

“Our mission is to replace the world’s most destructive technology–the use of animals in food production–by 2035,” CEO Patrick Brown said in a statement. “To do that, we need to double production every year, on average, for 15 years and double down on research and innovation. The market has its ups and downs, but the global demand for food is always there, and the urgency of our mission only grows.”

Impossible Foods competes in the plant-based alternative food space, which is growing in popularity. Impossible Burgers can be found at restaurants across the country, including at more than 7,000 Burger King locations. Beyond Meat, which was well-received by investors when it went public last year, is the other well-known brand in the space.

Impossible Foods closed the Series F round last week amid the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. That’s a good thing, because stocks have been plunging and some investors have been cautioning that VC funding will slow down.

At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in October, Impossible Foods’ Brown said the company would look to raise more money and that it wouldn’t go public in the near future, and it appears to be sticking to that plan.

“With this latest round of fundraising, Impossible Foods has the resources to accelerate growth–and continue to thrive in a volatile macroeconomic environment, including the current COVID-19 pandemic,” Impossible Foods’ Chief Financial Officer David Lee said in a statement.

A slew of celebrities also participated in Impossible Foods’ latest round. Musical artists Jay-Z, will.i.am, Zedd, Jaden Smith and Katy Perry all participated, as did actress Mindy Kaling, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, actor Kal Penn, tennis champion Serena Williams and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, among other stars.

Illustration Credit: Li-Anne Dias