In a six-month-long contest among 30 plant-based protein start-ups in Asia, Meatless Kingdom has been declared the winner of the Asia-Pacific Scale It Up! Innovation Challenge, which supports and accelerates the market readiness of plant-based protein start-ups.

Indonesia-based Meatless Kingdom was born in 2016 by fermentation expert Widya Putra, along with co-founders Fernando Agusto and Adrianus Louis, to bring affordable, plant-based versions of traditional Indonesian foods to life. In 2022, Lever stepped in with a program-related investment and provided assistance in refining the company’s branding and packaging.

As the winner of the Scale it Up! Innovation Challenge with its plant-based bakkwa, Meatless Kingdom will receive six months of mentorship, access to partners’ application centers for testing, scaling or launch, and visibility into the partner’s ecosystem. 

This competition win marks a significant milestone for Meatless Kingdom and the plant-based meat industry in Southeast Asia. With consumers becoming increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of animal agriculture, the demand for plant-based alternatives is rapidly growing. Meatless Kingdom’s innovative approach to plant-based meat is a testament to the potential for meat alternatives to provide an affordable, nutritious, and sustainable alternative to conventional meat.

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