Nuggs, an NYC-based alternative meat company founded by Australian entrepreneur Ben Pasternak, announced Thursday it is rebranding as Simulate and expanding its line of faux meat products.
The company also got an additional $4.1 million investment from the likes of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, former Whole Foods CEO Walter Robb, and Victoria’s Secret Angel Jasmine Tookes, bringing its total funding raised to $11 million.
Pasternak started his career in the tech world at 15 years old, when he developed a brain teaser mobile game called Impossible Rush that dominated the app charts worldwide, at one point beating out giants like Tinder, Vine and Twitter. He then made history by becoming the youngest tech entrepreneur to receive VC funding in Silicon Valley. A couple years later, he co-founded the social media app Monkey, which was acquired by rival video chat app Holla for an undisclosed amount.
Now 20, Pasternak’s new company Nuggs (now Simulate) is trying to turn the idea of meat on its head. This is becoming an increasingly crowded arena, with companies like Nature’s Fynd and Impossible Foods raising hundreds of millions of dollars for their alternative dairy and meat products. Just this week, Bay Area-based Perfect Day raised $300 million for its animal-free dairy proteins.
Claiming to be the “Tesla of chicken,” Simulate says that its cholesterol-free, “soy protein technology”-enabled nuggets “kill you slower,” providing 13g of protein (about 25 percent more than animal-based proteins) and 10g of fat (about 40 percent less than animal meat). They also appear to be doing well commercially. Since its launch in summer of 2019, Nuggs evolved into the fastest-growing company of its kind, according to the company, with sales growing 10x in the last six months.
Now, with this fresh funding and new name, Simulate will be launching new products like spicy nuggets, a “chicken burger product” and a hot dog meant to simulate beef.
“We’re pumped to launch new nutrition technologies over the next few months under our new parent company, Simulate,” Pasternak said in a statement. “Nuggs is just a taste of what the future holds, with new products around the corner.” Those interested can check out the company’s Release Notes page, where it maintains a list of updates to its products.
Simulate will also be bringing on Thierry Saint-Denis, the former senior director of research and innovation at Danone, as its next chief technology officer. Over the years, Saint-Denis has developed food products that have reached nearly $1 billion in sales and accumulated 14 patents in his name related to functional ingredients, probiotics and enzymes. He will be applying this knowledge to help Simulate develop new products down the road.
“I’m beyond thrilled to join the Simulate team,” Saint-Denis said in a statement. “The food system is in need of a complete reinvention and we think the best way to change it is to recreate the products we like, using and advancing what nature gave us with better technology.”
