DayDayCook, a culinary platform founded in Hong Kong, has partnered with venture capital firm Brinc to invest US$10 million over the next three years via the Good Food Accelerator Program.
The program aims to finance 45 foodtech startups that are developing sustainable and animal-free products in Greater China and Asia. Brinc also announced a US$500,000 pre-IPO investment in DayDayCook.
Applications for the next cohort is already open. Selected startups will receive an initial investment of US$200,000, with potential for follow-on funding, as well as access to Brinc and DayDayCook’s network of late-stage investors.
Key themes of the program include alternative protein, functional and novel food, sustainable packaging, food supply chain innovation, and consumer agritech solutions.
“By sourcing innovative startups from the [Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau] Greater Bay Area, Southeast Asia, and areas beyond, the program will make a global splash as it carries out Hong Kong’s ambition of transforming into a key innovation hub for food tech talent worldwide,” said Norma Chu, founder and CEO of DayDayCook.
Founded in 2012, DayDayCook is a lifestyle and cooking content platform that focuses on innovative and healthy meal solutions for young food lovers. Globally, the company has 80 million active users and over 18 million paid customers. Last year, it launched the Good Food Accelerator Program with seven startups selected in the first cohort.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based Brinc is a sustainability-focused investment firm. It operates 18 accelerator programs across seven countries and has a portfolio of over 200 companies.
According to a report, investment in Asia’s alternative protein market grew from US$162 million in 2020 to US$312 million in 2021, a 92% year-on-year surge. The continent is now a strong contender to dethrone North America’s decade-long dominance in the global alternative meat sector.
