NEW TECH FOODS

The Netherlands-based food-tech company Meatable has announced that it has raised $35 million in new funding, bringing the company’s total so far to $95 million. The round – led by UK venture capital firm Agronomics – saw Invest-NL, a Dutch impact fund, join as a new investor, contributing $17 million. The round also drew renewed support from existing investors, including BlueYard, Bridford, MilkyWay and DSM Venturing. Bastiaan Gielink, senior investment manager at Invest-NL, said: “At Invest-NL we are genuinely excited about the pioneering endeavors undertaken by Meatable. Our pursuit for appropriate protein alternatives that further a sustainable and circular society remains ceaseless. The breakthroughs achieved by Meatable have convinced us that they possess the know-how and team to make this potential a reality.” Meatable says it will use the funding to further scale its processes and accelerate commercial launch. The scale-up and process optimisation is set to reduce production costs to become cost competitive with traditional meat and reach production to commercial volumes. Krijn de Nood, co-founder and CEO of Meatable, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Invest-NL as a new investor and to have the renewed support from our existing investors. This is a huge sign of confidence in the incredible quality, taste, and proven scalability of our product, especially in the current investment climate...We look forward to working closely with our investors as we enter our next growth phase and cement our position as global leaders.”  The company’s products, which include sausages and pork dumplings, will be available in select restaurants and retailers in Singapore from 2024 as it partners with the country’s authorities to secure regulatory approval. The company held its first external tasting events in Singapore earlier this year following approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). In addition, it has begun production of its products on the ground with Esco Aster, the first and only commercially licensed cell-based meat manufacturer in Singapore. Meatable says it is also establishing a presence in the US “and beyond”. Jim Mellon, co-founder of Agronomics, commented: “The latest funding round will allow the company to scale up production in Singapore, and soon in the US, as it moves towards commercialisation as part of its Go-to-Market strategy”. To make its cell-based pork, Meatable uses one sample of animal cells – taken without harming the animal – and replicates the natural growth process of the cells using its patented opti-ox technology combined with pluripotent stem cells. This technology makes it possible for the company to produce real muscle and fat cells in eight days, which it says is 30 times faster than the time it takes to rear a pig for pork on the farm. Daan Luining, co-founder and CTO of Meatable, added: “Meatable holds the promise to have unbeatable efficiency in comparison to both traditional meat production and the cultivated meat industry average, without compromising on quality. To achieve our vision of providing the world with harm-free meat, we have to be price competitive, and this means efficiency is key. This new funding will help us to further scale up, bring down production time even more and start producing cultivated meat for the world.” #Meatable #TheNetherlands

Singapore-based cultivated seafood company Umami Meats has revealed its new identity as Umami Bioworks. The company launched in 2020, aiming to develop an efficient and cost-effective process for producing cell-based fish using cell lines from endangered species, in serum-free media and at scale. Umami Bioworks’ CEO, Mihir Pershad, said: “In 2020, we began with a simple vision: to deliver on the promise of cultivated seafood by developing a B2B business that solved critical bottlenecks in the supply chain and path to scale. We started with development of cell lines from endangered species of fish optimised to grow in serum-free media and in large-scale conditions.” “While our early work on cell lines and growth media addressed both economics and scale, we felt that a unified engineering approach would be needed to bring cultivated from promise to reality. This idea is at the core of our rebrand.” Pershad explained the new name: "Umami’ is a Japanese term that translates to ‘the essence of deliciousness,’ and at its core, it evokes the mouth-watering flavours and delicious aromas of the world-class seafood we will deliver”. He continued: “In the Industrial Revolution, the ironworks and later the steelworks brought an integrated manufacturing and engineering approach to crafting the building blocks of modern industry. Now, we intend to bring that same engineering and manufacturing-led thinking to scale the cultivation of animal cells through our bioworks”. With renewed commitment to delivering scalability and impact, Umami Bioworks aims to serve as the discovery and development platform for cell-based seafood and beyond. The company hopes to accelerate the discovery and industrialisation of novel cell cultivation inputs and processes with Alkemyst, it’s machine learning-based optimisation platform. Alkemyst can constantly analyse data, identify patterns and optimise R&D and scale-up parameters in areas including cell line selection, media development and process controls. It can simulate and predict outcomes with digital twin technology, allowing a reduction in the amount of screening and scale-up experiments needed, saving time and resources. The use of Alkemyst also enables the transfer of learnings from one species to the other, improving the efficiency at which Umami Bioworks can develop new products.

Biotech and nutrition companies Novozymes and Arla Foods Ingredients have announced a new partnership to develop advanced protein ingredients using precision fermentation. The co-funded partnership will see Novozymes contribute its expertise in the creation of microbial strains for the industrial-scale production of proteins by precision fermentation. Novozymes specialises in the production of enzymes through precision fermentation and has focused on the exploration of new protein solutions for health and nutrition since 2019. The biotech company’s expertise will be combined with Arla Foods Ingredients’ food tech knowledge – particularly in relation to separation and drying processes – and its experience within the regulatory landscape. The partnership will initially focus on a solution for disease-specific medical nutrition – a category in which protein is an essential component – with expansion into other segments in the future. Valerio Nannini, GM, Novozymes Advanced Protein Solutions, said: “Precision fermentation allows us to do almost anything in terms of protein composition and structure, and this is a fantastic opportunity to harness its full potential. In our ambition to develop new tailor-made products Arla Foods Ingredients is the best possible partner for us." He continued: "It’s already firmly positioned in medical nutrition and offers substantial insight into market needs, as well as specific manufacturing capabilities that complement ours. Entering a partnership like this demonstrates the huge progress we’ve made since our decision to enter the health and nutrition space.” Henrik Andersen, group VP of Arla Foods Ingredients, added: “This partnership brings together two market leaders in our respective areas. Collaborating with Novozymes fits perfectly with our ambition to explore alternative nutrition platforms and complement our portfolio of dairy and whey solutions. By leveraging our combined expertise, manufacturing skills and market insights, we’ll be able to accelerate the pace at which we bring innovative new protein products to market.” #Novozymes #ArlaFoodsIngredients #precisionfermentation

Upside Foods has announced strategic changes to its executive team, underscoring its dedication to assembling an “industry-defining” leadership team to drive the company's growth in its next phase. The company – which gained approval for the commercialisation of its cell-based chicken product in the US in June – has promoted its senior vice president of research and development, Kevin Kayser, to the role of chief scientific officer. Kayser steps into the position of CSO having led Upside's R&D efforts for almost five years. Kayser will be responsible for driving Upside’s scientific strategy, overseeing R&D efforts and collaborating with academic and industry partners to advance the mission and economics of cell-based meat. Upside says he is "uniquely qualified for the role” due to his time at Upside, combined with a PhD in microbiology and 30 years of experience in various biotech industries. Kayser’s notable achievements include developing high-performance cell lines and cell feeds, including advancements in serum-free cell feed formulations, cell lines that are capable of cell-based meat production in a robust manufacturing process, and high-yield cell lines. Kayser said: "As I reflect upon my past four years at Upside, I'm filled with gratitude for the hard work and dedication of my team. In a relatively short amount of time, we've achieved scientific breakthroughs that were once deemed insurmountable. As we enter our next chapter, I look forward to continuing to help drive the innovation that will progress us towards a more sustainable and equitable food system." Simultaneously, Sean Edgett is joining Upside Foods as chief legal officer, with 20 years of legal experience. Prior to Upside, Edgett spent ten years at Twitter, where he most recently held the position of general counsel, overseeing aspects such as litigation, regulatory compliance, corporate law and intellectual property. Notably, he led the legal work for dozens of M&A transactions during his tenure at Twitter and successfully guided the recent sale of the social media platform to billionaire Elon Musk. In his role at Upside, the company says Edgett will “lead all aspects of legal, compliance, IP, regulatory and government affairs". Edgett commented: "Being a part of Upside Foods is an incredible opportunity to help build an innovative and sustainable food system. With their historic regulatory accomplishments and exciting launches ahead, I'm excited to help navigate the complexities that come with pioneering a new industry so that we can drive our mission forward." Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of Upside Foods, added: “Kevin's deep knowledge in advancing the science of cultivated meat and Sean's strategic expertise in navigating complex landscapes make them the perfect fit for their respective roles. Expanding our executive team will accelerate our efforts to make our food system more humane and sustainable as we bring delicious, safe cultivated meat to consumers."

Shanghai-based cultivated meat start-up CellX has launched “China's first” cell-based meat pilot plant in an industrial park on the outskirts of Shanghai. The facility, named Future Food Factory X (FX), marks China's first large-scale pilot plant for cell-based meat, with a leading level of production costs “well below” $100 per pound, and the ability to produce ‘a couple of tonnes’ of cell-based meat each year. The next facility for commercial production is expected to be constructed by 2025 and will have the capacity to produce hundreds of tonnes of meat a year. CellX's pilot plant utilises its proprietary cell cultivation technology and operates with fully digitised intelligent management systems. It is positioned as “China's first transparent food space" for cell-based meat and integrates technology R&D, pilot production and interactive consumer experiences. The pilot plant currently hosts one line with a 2,000-litre bioreactor and has the capacity to host multiple lines. Starting now, consumers will have the opportunity to taste and enjoy a variety of delicacies made from cell-based meat at the facility. Shuangshuang Chen, head of R&D at CellX, said: "Cultivated meat technology embodies a safe, efficient, and sustainable approach to meat production. We can craft meat that is both delectable and nutritious, providing consumers with a superior alternative." As part of an event on Wednesday (9 August) for government, investors and media, CellX served meat it had cultivated in its laboratory from animal cells. The offerings included kebabs and minced meat, both of which were made using cell cultivation. CellX said each dish costs less than CNY 100 (approx. $13.87) to produce. In preparation for large-scale production, CellX's FX pilot plant leverages its self-developed suspension cell line and low-cost serum-free culture medium. These innovative technologies have successfully reduced production costs to below $100 per pound, which will be further slashed by 2025 market launch. CellX co-founder and CEO Ziliang Yang commented: "Our costs are at around $100 per pound, but by the time we commercially launch in two or three years, the price could go down 10 times. We are diligently working towards obtaining market approval in countries like the US and Singapore, with the aim of launching our products by 2025.” Currently, the company has screened nearly 20 immortalised cell lines by utilising a high-throughput automated system, with several of them already successfully adapted to grow in single cell suspension. It also marks the world's first successful single-cell suspension of fish cell lines. CellX's approach targets the high-end market first, with plans to introduce products to the mass market as they continue to scale up and reduce costs in the future. #CellX #China

Florida-based biotech company Dyadic International has announced that independent analysis has confirmed that its animal-free bovine serum albumin is structurally identical to commercial animal albumin. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) has applications for human therapeutics, cell culture media, vaccine development, R&D and more. It is frequently used as a component of the cell culture media to grow animal cells to produce cell-based meat. BSA is the main constituent of fetal bovine serum, an animal-derived and expensive pharmaceutical product used for cell growth in cell-based meat that has been challenging to replace. A recombinant alternative could be a game-changer in making the cell-based meat industry slaughter-free and lowering production costs. Joe Hazelton, chief business officer at Dyadic, said: “We are developing bovine and human animal-free serum albumin, both of which were successfully expressed efficiently with high purity. Initial third-party testing showed Dyadic’s albumin is analytically comparable to commercial reference samples which puts us closer to commercialisation opportunities in the rapidly expanding global serum albumin market.” Dyadic International designs and builds microbial platforms to develop and manufacture biopharmaceuticals and alternative proteins for food, nutrition, health and wellness. Ronen Tchelet, Dyadic’s chief scientific officer, added: "We believe our microbial expression platforms can speed development timelines and decrease final production costs”. Dyadic’s microbial platform uses a specific filamentous fungal strain to produce recombinant proteins, which allows flexible commercial scales at low costs to meet the global demand for non-pharmaceutical recombinant proteins. Using the platform, the company has been able to successfully develop stable cell lines to produce animal-free recombinant bovine serum albumin and recombinant human serum albumin at high levels. Dyadic’s research on creating serum albumin without using animals is a significant biotech breakthrough showing alternative ways to produce essential proteins, with the potential to accelerate the cultivated meat industry.

Clean Food Group has raised an additional £2.3 million in funding to accelerate the commercialisation of its sustainable oils and fats technology. The fermentation-derived palm oil company saw international investment from industrial food specialists Döhler Group and Alianza Team, as the global food industry looks to invest in healthier and more sustainable food choices for future generations. Capital raised from the round will enable Clean Food Group to accelerate the scale-up of its technology platform while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways. The additional £2.3 million makes up part of a total of £10 million in funding raised so far. The company expects to complete a Series A funding round in 2024, which will support the build-out of a commercial-scale manufacturing facility in the UK. Cellular agriculture specialist Agronomics, the leading listed investment company focused on Cellular Agriculture, invested around £700,000 in the company, subscribing for 4,249,700 ordinary shares. It previously invested £900,500 in Clean Food Group in June 2022. Its latest investment was made using cash from the company’s own resources. Jim Mellon, executive director of Agronomics and co-chairman of Clean Food Group also participated in the funding round with a £50,000 investment on the same terms. In total, Agronomics will now hold 30.31% of the equity capital on a fully diluted basis. AIM-traded company Seed Innovations, of which Mellon has a 6.95% holding, also invested in the round. Jim Mellon said: “Agronomics’ portfolio speaks to the breadth of disruption emerging from biomanufacturing on conventional agriculture and beyond. This fundraise marks an important milestone for Clean Food Group in the mission to drive transformative changes across the food industry by providing an alternative to palm oil in food and cosmetic production.” Clean Food Group has signed a services agreement with Döhler, designed to rapidly scale its fermentation process to a commercial level and enable the manufacture of product batches required for regulatory approval for cosmetics and food applications. A successful fermentation run at 1,000 litres was recently completed, with the manufacture of product batches for regulatory approvals to be completed later this year. Clean Food Group’s co-founder and CEO, Alex Neves, commented: “We are delighted with the rapid progress the business has made in the past year. The successful conclusion of this current funding round validates the important strides our business is taking in solving critical sustainability and supply chain challenges facing our food and cosmetic manufacturer customers.” #CleanFoodGroup #Agronomics #DöhlerGroup #AlianzaTeam

Bioindustrial company Bactolife has announced that it has raised €30 million in Series A financing for it proprietary Binding Proteins. Bactolife develops proprietary Binding Proteins that strengthen the gut microbiome, with the aim of reducing the burden of gastrointestinal infections and anti-microbial resistance. The round, led by VC fund Athos, saw participation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and existing investors, including Novo Holdings. The funding will be used to advance Bactolife’s mature projects towards commercial launch and strengthen its technology platform and upscaling capabilities. Sebastian Søderberg, CEO of Bactolife, said: “The funding allows us to increase our investments in our project pipeline, technology platform, organisation and upscaling capabilities. Further, it will enable Bactolife to accelerate our partnering efforts with world-leading companies and commercialise our first product concepts for humans and animals.” Julian Zachmann, investment manager at Athos, commented: “Infectious diseases and increasing antimicrobial resistance are amongst the biggest threats to global health and development. We are committed to addressing this challenge and believe in Bactolife’s targeted solutions.” According to Bactolife, its Binding Proteins “can reduce the risk of developing gut health infections, thereby reducing the need for antibiotics, at an affordable price point”. Aleks Engel, partner at Novo Holdings, added: “Bactolife is a great example of the strong Danish biotech ecosystem, as its technology platform originates from a Danish University, and was then further enabled by pioneering Danish biotech companies and talents. This bodes well for the future of not only Bactolife, but the Danish biotech sector as a whole.” He continued: “Further, I am very pleased that the international investors share our enthusiasm for finding solutions to the global antimicrobial resistance crisis. Combatting antimicrobial resistance requires all hands on deck.” #Bactolife #Denmark

Dutch ingredients company Vivici has announced that it has successfully closed its seed funding round, with support from founding investors #DSMFirmenich and #Fonterra. The company’s aim is to meet the world’s growing need for sustainable, nutritious and great tasting proteins through bringing animal-free dairy proteins made with precision fermentation to market. In a statement announcing its successful closing of the round, Vivici said that global demand for protein will nearly double by 2050 and current ways of producing protein cannot be scaled sustainably to meet that demand. Vivici is leveraging “decades of experience” in developing and scaling bioprocesses, with specialist knowledge in the isolation and application of dairy proteins. Fermentation-produced dairy proteins can provide functional benefits in a wide array of applications. Based in the Netherlands, Vivici has its headquarters at the Biotech Campus Delft and a dairy protein application lab in the Food Valley at NIZO food research. Stephan van Sint Fiet, CEO of Vivici, said: “I'm thrilled to work with such an experienced team, that knows what it takes to not only develop, but manufacture, register and commercialise great ingredients. Together, we will build Vivici into a precision fermentation leader that contributes to a future-proof food system.” Pieter Wolters, managing director of DSM-Firmenich Venturing, commented: “We are thrilled to be a founding investor in Vivici BV's Series Seed capital raise. Vivici has the foundation for success and builds on multiple years of joint technology and application development and is now well-positioned as an agile startup company." #Vivici #TheNetherlands

Cape Town-based cell-based meat start-up Mzansi Meat has rebranded to Newform Foods. The company was launched in 2020 with the aim to cultivate products specifically tailored to traditional African dishes and cooking methods. Newform confirmed its new identity through a social media post: Newform Foods boasts continent-spanning capabilities with R&D operations in South Africa and a commercial hub opening in the UK this year. Brett Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Newform, said: “Today’s conventional meat industry is fraught with issues, from the extensive use of antibiotics to the inhumane treatment of animals and severe environmental impact. We provide a sustainable and efficient solution to these challenges by making cultivated animal products mainstream. Our focus is on the development of a humane, sustainable alternative to conventional meat production.” The company’s proprietary bioproduction process is said to significantly reduce the cost and time required to create cell-based animal products. Newform leverages over 20 years of experience in the alt-protein and biotech industries to bring innovative solutions to the market. Its diverse team of engineers and scientists have developed a bio platform offering end-to-end solutions from prototype to pilot and beyond, simplifying the journey from lab to market. After successfully trialling a prototype and developing plans to take it to pilot, the company says it is already in early-stage conversations with retailers, food manufacturers and meat companies looking to be part of the future of food. “Our vision is a world where sustainable, harm-free food systems deliver delicious, nutritious, cultivated food at cost parity,” Thompson added. “By leveraging food science and cost-efficiency, we’re turning this vision into reality.” The news follows last week's announcement from Singapore-based cultivated seafood company Umami Meats, which revealed its new identity as Umami Bioworks. #NewformFoods #SouthAfrica #UK

South Korean bio-tech food company Simple Planet has unveiled plans to tap into the global market by establishing branches in North America in Q2 2023. The company’s cell line development platform specialised in mass production, has enabled the establishment of 13 different cell lines to date, producing different kinds of animal proteins and fats. Simple Planet has developed a low-cost probiotics-based serum-free edible culture medium to replace the conventional FBS (foetal bovine serum), which currently accounts for over 80% of cell-based food production costs. This cost reduction along with plans to establish branches in the US and Canada will enable faster entry towards the commercialisation of cell-based food. Instead of growing pieces of meat or seafood, Simple Planet produces cell-based meat powder and paste and cultivated unsaturated fats. Its products are designed to improve the nutritional profile of foods while enhancing flavour. Simple Planet says that the high-protein powders and customisable unsaturated fatty acids can be “used as food ingredients with unlimited applications”. They can enhance absorption and improve the flavour and the nutritional structure of any conventional food product and can also be used as specialized functional ingredients targeting seniors and infants. The company says the products’ versatility will allow the ingredients to enter the market more easily than finished products. Il Doo Jeong, CEO of Simple Planet, said: “Simple Planet’s cell-based food ingredients will be supplied diversely as target materials in the global cultivated meat market, and we are preparing for commercialisation and global market entry starting with the establishment of our North American branches in the second half of 2023”. #SimplePlanet #SouthKorea

US-based cell-based meat start-up Omeat has launched Plenty, an “ethical replacement for foetal bovine serum (FBS) that is equally effective but for a fraction of the cost”. Omeat has had its first commercial sales of Plenty, positioning it “among the first” revenue-generating cell-based meat companies. FBS has long been used as a critical agent in the cell-culture process and was instrumental in early pioneering techniques for growing cell-based meat. However, its use is problematic as it is harvested from bovine foetuses that are taken from pregnant cows during their mutual slaughter. Along with ethical issues, FBS is expensive. These concerns have prompted companies to seek alternatives – Plenty presents an option that is humane, affordable, scalable and highly effective for cell culture. Plenty is a nutrient-rich cell culture supplement filled with growth factors and cytokines that play an essential role in regenerative medicine, cell culture, and vaccine production of different types of cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) solution. Founded through the development of Omeat, Plenty was created by a group of Harvard-MIT-trained scientists, including world-renowned top tissue engineer and Omeat's founder & CEO Ali Khademhosseini. According to Omeat, Plenty is the “first and only” product to offer a cost-effective, consistent solution that is slaughter-free and prioritises animal welfare. Plenty is sourced from regenerative factors that are extracted humanely from healthy, live cows that graze freely on Omeat's farm. The company employs a full-time veterinary and animal-welfare staff and has developed procedures for collection that rely on positive reinforcement and prioritise the comfort and overall well-being of the animals. The market for Plenty includes any company focused on cell-based meat, regenerative medicine, vaccine production, or one that otherwise employs cell-culture technology. Omeat says that “other FBS alternatives on the market fall short of efficacy and consistency compared to Plenty”. Khademhosseini said: “When it comes to growth media supplementation, FBS is considered the gold standard. However, FBS has downsides, including high costs, limited and unpredictable supply, and ethical concerns about the FBS harvesting process. Synthetic serum substitutes, defined media, and serum-free media have been developed before as alternatives, but they've come with limitations that have hindered their viability as a replacement to FBS. That's why we developed Plenty: an affordable, effective, and slaughter-free cell culture supplement product." He continued: "At Omeat, we saw how the implementation of Plenty significantly helped our product, ethos, and overall ecosystem. We're looking forward to scaling and helping other companies that are changing the world, allowing them to achieve their goals with a product they can feel good about using." Plenty FBS alternative is available for purchase now on the company’s website. #Omeat #Plenty #FBS #US