Prime Movers Lab Leads $1.5 Million Seed Round in Vegan Cheese Maker Bandit

Prime Movers Lab is excited to announce that we are leading a $1.5 million seed round in a leading maker of plant-based foods: Bandit (previously known as Conscious Cultures).

Bandit crafts delicious plant-based cheeses that use cashews as their base. The company’s signature cheeses include a cave-aged, double cream camembert-inspired bloomy rind called Maverick and a cave-aged, vegetable ash ripened cheese with an ash inlay called Barn Cat. Bandit also produces an array of seasonal cheeses.

“The Bandit team is pushing the boundaries of cultured, plant-based milks, producing the most compelling vegan cheeses on the market. We have been looking for a dairy-alternative investment, and at the end of the day, Bandit just tasted better than anything else we tried,” said Prime Movers Lab Partner and Bandit Board Member Gaetano Crupi. “They make delicious plant-based foods that will find broad acceptance among chefs at elite restaurants as well as the average American consumer shopping the aisles of their neighborhood grocery store.”

The vegan cheese market is expected to grow 5.7% in 2022 and is estimated to reach a market size of $3 billion in 2022 and $7.35 billion in 2032, according to research from Future Market Insights. Venture capital firms like Prime Movers Lab have started to take notice. In 2021, investors poured about $1.4 billion globally into dairy substitute startups — a 70% increase from 2020.

“Consumer values are rapidly changing and younger cheese enthusiasts recognize the tremendous impact that agricultural practices are having on climate change, the environment, and animal welfare,” said Bo Babaki, Founder and CEO of Bandit.

Bandit will use the funding to continue scaling its production processes and growing its fan base. Enthusiasts can expect to find Bandit cheeses in a variety of new grocery stores in Northern California, Texas, and Illinois in the coming months. To find a list of stores that carry Bandit cheeses, click here.

Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation, and agriculture.

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