DUBAI: KBW Ventures, the company founded by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud, has invested in French food technology startup Furahaa Group, the firm’s first investment in the European country.
Paris-based Furahaa Group was founded in 2015 by entrepreneur Arthur Devillers and is the holding company for a number of food and hospitality subsidiaries. Plant B2B is a food distribution company, ViVeg is a vegan food subscription platform, and Furahaa is its vegan fast-food restaurant chain.
Prince Khaled said: “This is my first investment in the French market. Furahaa Group, driven by Arthur’s vision for an inclusive and diverse workplace, while giving both consumers and other vendors a route to choose plant-based options, had me interested in the business immediately.
“The distribution business is strong, and during the (COVID-19) pandemic I saw a swift and organized pivot – something any investor would find very attractive in a portfolio company.”
The financial value of the investment has not been revealed.
Devillers said: “Furahaa Group was initially seeking like-minded investors to ensure our stock stability. We wanted to better meet shortages of plant-based foodstuffs, as in France alternative proteins – meat and dairy alternatives – are not yet widely available at competitive price points.
“Sourcing quality ingredients at price parity was a challenge, so this led to Furahaa Group developing our own supply chain and distribution streams.”
Furahaa Group is aiming to use the new investment to open outlets throughout France and franchise the plant-based fast-food model further afield.
“We want to be everywhere that mainstream fast food is, but offering plant-based, delicious, ethical alternatives,” Devillers added.
KBW Ventures invests in companies with transformative technologies and business models. Its other investments include the Colorado-based pet food firm Bond Pet Foods, Hawaiian-based vegan jerky company Moku Foods, US-based cellular agriculture seafood company BlueNalu, and Californian food tech company Upside Foods.
Prince Khaled announced in March that he had become a member of the advisory board for the $15 million XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion competition, which aims to find alternatives to traditional farming and cooking methods.
“XPRIZE is known for catalyzing innovators to solve pressing global issues, and the Feed the Next Billion challenge actually addresses several problems in one shot: The climate crisis, the responsible usage of natural resources, making healthy protein-rich foods widely available with a built-in affordability metric, and more,” the prince told Arab News.
Launched in December, XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion seeks to meet the growing global demand for protein products through the development of nutritious alternatives to traditional chicken and fish products.
