Improved Nature has raised $3 million in a private debt offering, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Improved Nature LLC has raised the money from 50 investors, according to the filling.

Garner-based Improved Nature is a privately held company that offers plant-based meat substitutes. The company was founded in 2015 and has chicken, turkey, beef and pork plant-based and meat substitutes that are meat-free.

Rody Hawkins is the president and chief executive officer of Improved Nature and has been with the company since its inception in 2015.

Before joining Improved Nature he was a managing partner at RDI Foods, LLC, and continued to work there until 2017. He worked in multiple leadership positions at ConAgra Foods until 2002.

Hawkins received his undergraduate degree in animal science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, his Master of Science in food science at the University of Kentucky, and his doctorate degree in meat science at Texas Tech University.

Companies such as Improved Nature relying on a Reg D exemption do not have to register their offering of securities with the SEC, but they must file what is known as a Form D electronically with the SEC after they first sell their securities.