Plant-based meal replacement producer Kate Farms saw a new backer join its series B funding round when it announced Jan. 26 that Main Street Advisors joined Goldman Sachs and Kaiser Permanente Ventures to invest $9 million, closing the round at $60 million.

Kate Farms, which is headquartered in Santa Barbara, has told the Business Times it plans to use some of the capital to build a new product center in Carpinteria.

Chairman and CEO Brett Matthews said he hopes everything is up and running at the new facility by mid-2021. In addition to the new facility, the company also plans to add more products in the coming years. 

Kate Farms formulas are used to help nourish those with chronic illnesses and are fed through tubes. They have also expanded to produce nutrition shakes consumed orally for people with shorter-term or milder conditions that don’t require tube feeding.

Kate Farms has seen revenue growth of around 100% per year for the past three years, allowing the company to expand to 145 employees with plans to hire more. The company has also donated over 250,000 meals to hospitals, food banks and others since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.