Alt-protein startup OFF FOODS secures $1.7m to accelerate adoption in Indonesia

Indonesian-based food tech startup OFF FOODS announced raising $1.7 million in a seed funding round led by Alpha JWC Ventures and participated by Global Founders Capital (GFC) and other strategic investors, including Creative Gorilla Capital, Lemonilo, and United Family Capital (UFC).

Founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneur Dominik Laurus and experienced plant-based businessman Jhameson Ko, OFF FOODS aims to be the leading alternative protein (alt-protein) brand in Indonesia and beyond, and, in the founders’ words, “to provide the opportunity for more people in switching off meat from animal for sustainability without compromising taste”.

The company launched its flagship product OFF MEAT, a chicken-like protein, in August last year and since then the product has seen 10x growth in adoption through business-to-business (B2B) partnerships with restaurants.

With this fresh seed capital, OFF FOODS plans to invest in its research and development to offer new variations of OFF MEAT, starting with other chicken-like options such as nuggets. The company will also continue to expand to other cities in Indonesia while also launching a direct-to-customer game plan to reach more users.

OFF FOODS’ products are currently available in seven cities (Greater Jakarta Area, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Bali) through its partner restaurants which include F&B franchise chains Gaaram and Wanfan, Jakarta’s fan-favourite Italian restaurant Mamma Rosy, and healthy restaurant and catering FITCO Eats.

Additionally, multiple upcoming launches are expected, including with rice bowl chain Mangkokku which boasts 48 outlets, Japanese chain restaurant Zenbu, and burger chain Byurger. The company has also recently opened a new branch in Bali, which is one of the most important plant-based food markets in Indonesia.

OFF FOODS will see more adoption and partnership in the near future as OFF MEAT has high applicability in the kitchen, from fried ‘chicken’ to nuggets to traditional ‘chicken’ sambal matah, offering the large HORECA market in emerging markets a more localised taste and texture compared to alt-products available in the market today.

“OFF MEAT is becoming the solution for the food service business in supplying plant-based meat fillets to the HORECA market. Our product is both affordable and customizable for chefs to create meatless dishes on their menu with their very own special recipe and technique. Customers will be able to enjoy a familiar taste from the restaurant in the form of a meatless dish and be a part of future sustainability,” says OFF FOODS co-founder and CPO Jhameson Ko.