Celebrity friends Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson just invested in a vegan meat company.
The popular actors are backing Abbot’s Butcher, a Californian startup that recently raised $7 million in a series A funding round led by Melitas Ventures.
This investment marks Wilson’s first interaction with the vegan marketplace, but Harrelson and his wife Laura previously invested in several other plant-based businesses and have long advocated for a vegan diet.
Existing Abbot’s Butcher investors Unovis and SOSV also participated in the round, and the company plans to use the money for retail, foodservice expansion, and the development of new products and flavors.
“Abbot’s Butcher is paving the way for the next generation of plant-based meat alternative products,” says Alex Malamatinas, a managing partner at Melitas. “The company’s products are uniquely positioned as premium plant-based meat alternatives which are attracting strong interest from grocery and foodservice.”
The company was founded in 2017 by vegan advocate Kerry Song and produces a broad range of plant-based meat options. It uses “simple” ingredients, such as pea protein, vegetables, herbs, and spices, and specifically avoids soy, canola oil, gums, and synthetic flavors.
“We are reframing the conversation around plant-based proteins,” explains Song. “It’s not just about taste and mouthfeel. It’s about quality, and celebrating the power of exceptional ingredients—showing that food can be both healing and satisfying.”
Abbot’s Butcher products, which include meat-free beef, chicken, and chorizo-style proteins, are currently available at over 800 retail and foodservice locations.
Woody Harrelson and vegan investing
While Wilson is new to the plant-based space, Harrelson has been vegan for over 30 years, since long before the high-tech plant-based meat of today was even possible.
He was one of the investors in a Baltimore property that housed vegan restaurant L’eau de Vie until its closure, and just last year the actor joined a variety of other celebrity investors in backing Gathered Foods’ vegan seafood brand Good Catch.
Harrelson also narrated 2020’s optimistic (but rightly criticized for whitewashing) environmental documentary Kiss the Ground, which explored the “first viable solution” to climate change—regenerative agriculture and natural carbon sequestration.
“There’s so much bad news about our planet. It’s so overwhelming,” said Harrelson in the movie’s trailer. “The truth is, I have given up. This is the story of a simple solution, a way to heal our planet. This solution is right under our feet and it’s as old as dirt.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” he added. “I won’t give up, and neither should you.”
