Walt Disney executive chairperson Bob Iger is joining the board of directors of California-based food tech company Perfect Day. Iger, who relinquished his position as Disney's chief executive officer earlier in the year, reportedly also made an undisclosed investment in the company.
The startup company is backed by offshore investors such as Li Ka-shing's Horizon Ventures and Singapore's sovereign fund Temasek. Perfect Day's initial series C funding, led by Horizon Ventures and Temasek, raised $140 million in new capital. The company's second tranche, which was held in July this year, raised over $360 million.
Iger mentioned in a statement that he saw "enormous potential" in the company's business, which is why he had decided to come on board. He added that he is fully sold on the company's "novel approach" to fighting climate change and its commitment to becoming the leader in the rapidly growing market.
"Perfect Day has established both innovation in its use of technology and novel approach to fighting climate change... I'm thrilled to join at this pivotal moment and support the company's swift growth into new categories and markets," Iger said in a statement.
Perfect Day mainly creates artificial milk using proteins from plant-based sources instead of using animals. This includes the extraction and creation of dairy proteins using sources such as fermented microflora. The company claims that its process of making milk is much more sustainable and solves a lot of the issues related to factory farming, antibiotics, hormones and lactose.
Unlike other companies, which create soy or almond milk, Perfect Day is creating a direct substitute for bovine dairy using its unique technology. The company claimed that the artificial milk market could balloon to more than $1 trillion in the coming years as consumers shift to greener alternatives.
Perfect Day's joint founders Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi expressed their appreciation for Iger's support and his decision to join the company. The executives said that they were thrilled to have Iger join their team, adding that his "tenured operational expertise" should prove invaluable in helping the company achieve its ambitions.
