Seattle-based food technology startup Rebellyous Foods ended 2025 on a high note with the commercial launch of a new production system for its plant-based faux meat.
Last week, Rebellyous successfully ran its Mock 3 over two days, demonstrating the ability to continuously produce its plant-based chicken products such as nuggets, patties and tenders, across multiple shifts while scaling up and down as needed in real time.
Rebellyous founder and CEO Christie Lagally Bradburn called it a “momentous final week” of the year as the startup proved that production of its plant-based meat can be automated in high volumes and with considerably reduced labor compared to conventional methods.
The company says the Mock 3 is capable of producing over 5,000 pounds of its faux chicken per hour.
The Mock 3 also marks a return to Washington state for Rebellyous, which had been partnering on a Mock 2 system with RMS Foods at a state-of-the-art facility in New Mexico.
Lagally Bradburn told GeekWire that the system “needed some upgrades” to reach full commercialization, and Rebellyous decided to build its own mini-facility inside an existing food processing site in Stanwood, Wash., north of Seattle.
“Thanks to the extra time and money we invested in the Washington state facility, the Mock 3 system now works perfectly,” Lagally Bradburn said, adding that Rebellyous remains committed to RMS Foods as a co-manufacturing partner, especially amid the rapid expansion of customers in the southeastern U.S.
A former Boeing engineer, Lagally Bradburn started Rebellyous as Seattle Food Tech, Inc. in 2017 in a bid to make plant-based meat faster, better and less expensive to produce.
The startup’s customers include school districts across the U.S. who feed children through the National School Lunch Program, as well as hospitals, restaurants, and others.
Rebellyous saw 30% year-over-year growth in 2025, and raised $3.5 million in November to support its plans for 2026. Lagally Bradburn said the startup, which has raised $38.5 million in its 8 1/2 years, is at “break-even.”
“Some months we are cash flow positive, so we are creeping over the ‘profitability’ finish line right now,” she said. “Commercialization of the Mock 3 is a key piece to our mantra of ‘price-parity and profitability’ for Rebellyous and we continue to grow rapidly.”
That growth flies against the investor pullback that some alternative protein companies experienced in 2025, as Bloomberg reported Monday.
Lagally Bradburn said investors are wary of a “marketing-first approach” to alt-proteins, but Rebellyous’ investors are seeing results with its “price- and quality-first approach.” She said Rebellyous has the highest margins in the plant-based meat industry. The company has eight full-time and two part-time employees.
https://ift.tt/nSZux9T January 05, 2026 at 11:34PM GeekWire
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