Simulate (company)
SIMULATE (formerly known as NUGGS) is a food technology company headquartered in SoHo, Manhattan aiming to simulate meat products with plant inputs. The company was founded in 2018 by Ben Pasternak and Sam Terris. The company's signature product, NUGGS, a plant-based chicken nugget alternative, was launched in July 2019 via a direct-to-consumer website. NUGGS started to be sold in retail stores such as Whole Foods Market, Walmart, Sam's Club, and Target in early 2021. SIMULATE also makes a plant-based chicken patty product called DISCS. The company also sells its products via ghost  kitchens in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In July 2019, NUGGS announced that it had raised a $7 million Series A funding round. The round was led by McCain Foods and also included investment from Alexis Ohanian, Robert Pittman, and Lerer Hippeau. In July 2020, NUGGS announced that it had raised an additional $4 million in funding, and announced that it was changing its name to SIMULATE. In June 2021, SIMULATE announced that it had raised a $50 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Alexis Ohanian's venture capital fund Seven Seven Six  and also included investment from Chris Sacca, McCain Foods, NOMO Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, Day One Ventures, and Jay Z's venture capital firm Marcy Venture Partners. SIMULATE expects to use the funds to accelerate new product development; triple the company’s employee base with the addition of scientists and engineers; scale manufacturing and increase its retail and food-service presence. The company also plans to expand internationally, first in Canada.