Google nearly Got Into The Fast Food Business

Google has tried to buy a vegetarian burger business called Impossible Foods for up to $300m, it has been revealed. Google and Impossible Foods could not come to an agreement on a price for a potential deal, causing it to fall through, according to a report by The Information.

The food company claims to make burgers made of plants that taste like beef with cheese, and is backed by Mircrosoft founder Bill Gates. Their creations are so close to the real meat that it’s hard to tell which one is which from the pictures of their products.

The Redwood City, California-based company has raised $75m in venture capital from Khosla Ventures the fund that has also backed dating website HowAboutWe, crowdfunding platform IndieGoGo and wearable device maker Jawbone as well as Bill Gates, Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures, Google executive Tony Fadell and Google Ventures, which acts independently of Google.

Other competitors trying to disrupt the global food market by producing sustainable, healthy food alternatives include Beyond Meat, Modern Meadow, Bright Farms, Unreal Candy, Nu-Tek Salt and Soylent, the nutritionally complete liquid food substitute. But the company has many individuals with strong food and science backgrounds. It’s unclear if the companies are still in talks or if they have completely stalled.

As well as its core search and ad business Google is constantly looking into so-called “moonshot” projects – goals that can only be realised over a decade or more. The idea would be very useful to developing countries that can’t afford to raise cattle. Supporters of the burger have raised around $74 million for it.