NEW TECH FOODS

Cell-based fish start-up Bluu Biosciences has raised €7 million in a seed funding round, receiving investments from Manta Ray Ventures, CPT Capital, Lever VC, Norrsken and Be8. Berlin-based Bluu Biosciences claims to be the first company in Europe to specialise in the development of cell-based versions of fish. The biotech start-up is focusing on the creation of cultivated versions of carp, trout and salmon, with the aim of building a more sustainable and ethical ecosystem for fish meat. This cultivated fish is produced from fish cells that are placed within bioreactors and provided with nutrients to stimulate their growth. The resulting fish meat is thus produced without harming fish or the ecosystem, providing a nutritious protein source free from pollutants with a ‘significantly lower’ CO2, water and energy footprint than traditional fish processing. The start-up claims that the investment will support the company’s biotechnology research and development work, as well as new product development efforts. Sebastian Rakers, co-founder and managing director of Bluu Biosciences., said: “Cultivated fish has the potential to feed a large portion of humanity. Our task is to rapidly operationalise the findings from biotechnological research to leverage this potential. “Bluu Biosciences has set out to produce tasty and nutrient-optimized fish products from fish cells that are free of genetic engineering, antibiotics and environmental toxins. “Above all, that means intensive research and development work to develop the optimal fish cell lines for subsequent production. Bluu is in the excellent position of using proprietary technologies and non-GMO immortalized cell lines to achieve that.” #BluuBiosciences #Berlin

Cultivated meat company Meatable has raised $47 million in a Series A financing round, bringing the company’s total funding to $60 million. Founded in 2018, Meatable is a Dutch start-up working to produce, at scale, cultivated meat that looks and tastes like its conventionally farmed counterpart, with the same nutritional profile. The company says that its proprietary opti-ox technology enables it to produce meat rapidly and sustainably, without harming animals. The start-up’s latest financing push was backed by a consortium of life sciences and food investors, including Section 32, DSM Venturing, Rick Klausner, Jeffrey Leiden and existing Meatable supporters. The company finalised its first showcase product in 2020, following a $10 million seed funding round the previous year. Meatable now plans to use the proceeds from its Series A round to advance small-scale production at the Biotech Campus Delft and diversify its product portfolio. While Meatable is currently focused on cultivated pork and beef, the firm’s technology is said to be adaptable to any cell-based species, providing the opportunity for further product development. “We are committed to joining Meatable in its mission to address the world’s most pressing challenges,” said Rick Klausner, former director of the US National Cancer Institute and former executive director of global health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “They have a great team and game-changing technology that can address the challenges around the global food insecurity issues our planet is facing,” he added. Krijn de Nood, CEO and co-founder of Meatable, said: “Cultivated meat has the potential to continue to produce the product we love – meat – using a much more efficient production process. “Having Rick Klausner, Jeffrey Leiden, Section 32 and DSM support us in realising that potential is a huge step for Meatable. “We are honoured to welcome a like-minded group of investors who support us on our mission – to develop, accelerate and bring to life sustainable, healthy and environmentally sound technologies that can improve the human condition.” #Meatable #theNetherlands

Vietnamese seafood processor Vinh Hoan Corporation (VHC) has announced a strategic investment in Hong Kong-based cultivated fish start-up Avant Meats. VHC will become a shareholder in Avant after agreeing to acquire Vinh Technology, which was incorporated in Singapore and holds a minority interest in Avant. As part of the deal, VHC will establish a strategic partnership with Avant to accelerate the commercialisation of cultivated fish proteins by enabling the start-up to utilise its global sales network and industrial manufacturing capacity. Last month, Avant raised $3.1 million in a seed funding round to accelerate research and development and bring its cultivated fish products to market in 2021. “VHC is a global leader in aquaculture and functional proteins. VHC’s knowledge of customer requirements will provide valuable guidance for our product development and commercialisation,” said Carrie Chan, co-founder and CEO of Avant. Under the terms of the agreement, VHC will also use the Vinh Technology division to access strategic opportunities in agri-tech, food tech and biotech-related to seafood and alternative proteins. Vinh Technology will join VHC’s three other divisions: Vinh Aquaculture, Vinh Foods and Vinh Wellness. According to the two companies, the strategic partnership demonstrates how Avant’s biotechnology platform can collaborate with industry players, as it looks to offer a sustainable model to produce alternative proteins. “We look forward to working with Avant to commercialise a new generation of cultivated fish proteins for food and functional applications,” said Khanh Truong, founder and chairwoman of VHC. Tam Nguyen, CEO of VHC, added: “Avant offers a unique opportunity for us to diversify our future product portfolio to offer additional choices to address emerging consumer needs and trends.” #VinhHoan #Avant #HongKong #Singapore

Australian cultured meat company Vow Food has secured $6 million in a seed funding round to further develop its exotic lab-grown meats. The start-up claims to be the first company in the world to produce a food product from the cells of an undomesticated animal, with its Kangaroo Dumpling in 2019. Since then, Vow has expanded its portfolio to include 11 different animals including standard livestock such as pork and chicken, but also more exotic fare like alpaca and water buffalo. The oversubscribed funding round was led by Square Peg Capital and joined by existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Grok Ventures, as well as new investor Tenacious Ventures. Vow has recently completed a new food design studio and laboratory in Sydney and has grown its team from five to 22 people in less than a year. “There’s no doubt that cultured meat is becoming available and will soon be mainstream, as evident earlier this month with the world’s first cultured meat product approved for sale in Singapore,” said George Peppou, co-founder and CEO of Vow. With the funding, Vow is looking to outperform meat instead of replacing it. “This is about so much more than an alternative to animal agriculture, it’s about a category of products totally distinct from, and better than, what animals are capable of producing,” added Peppou. Tim Noakesmith, Vow’s co-founder and chief commercial officer, said: “We believe that the only way to change the behaviour of billions of people is to make many products that are simply better than what we have today.” James Tynan at Square Peg Capital said: “In Vow, we found a team with the most audacious vision for the future of food. They’re tackling one of the biggest problems on the planet and have delivered results with less than 1% of the resources of its competitors. We’re thrilled to help them make this vision a reality.” #Vow #Australia

BioTech Foods has revealed that it is heading a €5.2 million cultured meat project – majoritively funded by the Spanish government – that will investigate the potential health benefits of cellular agriculture. The project aims to investigate meat produced from cellular agriculture that, together with the development of healthy fats and functional ingredients, will enable the manufacture of healthier meat products than traditional red meat. Based in the Basque Country, BioTech has been producing its own cell-based brand called Ethicameat, which it claims is 100% natural, animal based, slaughter-free, high in protein and fat-free. Seven entities will work alongside BioTech Foods as part of the cultivated meat project – Argal, Martínez Somalo, DMC Research, BDI Biotech, Neoalgae, BTSA and Agrowingdata. The consortium will also be joined by ten research organisations including Barcelona Science Park, University of Granada and CTIC CITA. According to BioTech Foods, the project proposes a more sustainable and healthier agri-food sector. One of the main focuses is the prevention of colon cancer and dyslipidemia through reduced consumer exposure to saturated fat. In its place, the consortium aims to research functional ingredients and the preparation of healthy lipids into a final consumer product. The Spanish government has granted the project €3.7 million, while the total budget of the initiative amounts to €5.2 million. Currently, BioTech Foods says the biggest challenge for the sector is producing cultivated meat on an industrial scale. Last month, Eat Just’s cultured chicken was approved for sale in Singapore in what has been deemed the world’s first regulatory approval for cultured meat. #BioTechFoods #Spain

Singapore-based company TurtleTree Labs has raised $6.2 million in an oversubscribed Pre-A funding round to accelerate the development of its cell-based milk solutions. The biotech firm has developed a proprietary technology that uses mammalian cells to produce milk, with no animal needed. TurtleTree Labs plans to use the new funds to expand its focus into functional, bioactive proteins and complex sugars found in human milk – components which are said to have potential benefits in the areas of gut and brain health. The company’s latest financing push was backed by existing seed investors, Green Monday Ventures and KBW Ventures. Other participants in the Pre-A funding round included Eat Beyond Global and Verso Capital. Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, will join TurtleTree Labs as an advisor. “TurtleTree Labs’ technology is able to significantly reduce carbon footprint and address food resilience in the long term. This is a win-win for planet and for communities,” said Lim Hock Chuan, chief executive of Temasek Foundation Ecosperity, which presents The Liveability Challenge, a start-up competition won by TurtleTree Labs earlier this year. “We are happy that The Liveability Challenge is able to showcase sustainable ideas and innovations from around the world, and support winners like TurtleTree Labs and other innovators to secure funding and opportunities to further develop their solutions.” Singapore recently became the first country in the world to approve the sale of lab-grown meat when Eat Just secured the greenlight for its cultured chicken. #TurtleTreeLabs #Singapore

KFC has joined forces with a Moscow-based biotechnology company, in a project aimed at creating the ‘world’s first’ laboratory-produced chicken nuggets. The 3D Bioprinting Solutions research laboratory is developing additive bioprinting technology using chicken cells and plant material. The nuggets produced through the collaboration with KFC will aim to mimic the taste and appearance of the fast food giant’s original product. To this end, KFC says that it will provide its partner with all of the ‘necessary ingredients’, such as breading and spices. According to KFC, the bioprinting method has several benefits. Biomeat reportedly has exactly the same microelements as the original, while excluding various additives that are used in traditional farming and animal husbandry. Cell-based meat products are also said to be ‘more ethical’, as the production process does not harm any animals. In addition, KFC cites a study by the American Environmental Science & Technology Journal, which reported that a cellular method can allow energy consumption to be cut by more than half and greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced 25-fold, compared to traditional farm-based meat production. The technology is also said to require 100 times less land. “At KFC, we are closely monitoring all of the latest trends and innovations and doing our best to keep up with the times by introducing advanced technologies to our restaurant networks,” said Raisa Polyakova, general manager of KFC Russia & CIS. “Our experiment in testing 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken products can also help address several looming global problems. We are glad to contribute to its development and are working to make it available to thousands of people in Russia and, if possible, around the world.” Yusef Khesuani, co-founder and managing partner of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, added: “3D bioprinting technologies, initially widely recognised in medicine, are nowadays gaining popularity in producing foods such as meat. “In the future, the rapid development of such technologies will allow us to make 3D-printed meat products more accessible and we are hoping that the technology created as a result of our cooperation with KFC will help accelerate the launch of cell-based meat products on the market.” #KFC #3DBioprintingSolutions #Moscow

Food tech firm BlueNalu has partnered with South Korean company Pulmuone to accelerate the introduction of its cell-based seafood into the Asian marketplace. BlueNalu says that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Seoul-based food producer, which also participated in its Series A funding round. The aquaculture start-up has developed a method of producing seafood directly from fish cells and says that it aims to create a more stable and sustainable seafood supply chain. Under this latest agreement, which marks the first collaboration for BlueNalu in South Korea, the companies will work together in areas such as marketing, operations and distribution. The aim of the partnership is to bring BlueNalu products to the South Korean market in coming years. “This agreement with Pulmuone represents our shared values and respect for healthy families, a healthy ocean, and a healthy planet,” said Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO of BlueNalu. “We plan to launch BlueNalu cell-based seafood products initially in the US, but we also recognise there is significant and increasing market demand for high-quality seafood in South Korea, while supply becomes increasingly vulnerable and potentially contaminated with microplastics, mercury, and environmental pollutants.” Sang Yun Lee, chief technology officer at Pulmuone, added: “While a product launch is still several years away, we recognise that the global seafood supply is compromised, unpredictable and cannot keep up with demand, so our mutual goal is to accelerate BlueNalu’s introduction to our customers with a product that meets consumer expectations in terms of taste, texture and nutrition, while also providing benefits for the planet and the wellbeing of families.” Earlier this year, BlueNalu announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with aquafeed producer Nutreco, in what it described as a “significant milestone” that would enable it to accelerate its journey towards commercialisation. #BlueNalu #Pulmuone #SouthKorea #Seoul

Biotech firm TurtleTree Labs has raised $3.2 million in a seed financing round, to accelerate the development of its cell-based milk operation. The Singapore-based company has developed a proprietary technology that uses mammalian cells to produce milk, with no animal needed. The firm’s focus is on human breast milk followed by cow milk. According to co-founder Max Rye, the capital raised in TurtleTree Labs’ latest financing round will be used to benefit its ‘scale up development’, bringing the company one step closer to commercialisation. Investors included Green Monday Ventures, CPT Capital, Artesian, New Luna Ventures, and KBW Ventures, an asset management company which also participated in TurtleTree Labs’ pre-seed round. Government agency Enterprise Singapore has also reportedly lent its support to the company in recent months. “If the rapidly deteriorating climate change situation isn’t enough to convince the world, the pandemic surely hammers home the urgency that we need to overhaul the food system for the sake of public health, food safety, and food security,” said Green Monday Group founder, David Yeung. “That explains why Green Monday Ventures is so excited to invest in and collaborate with TurtleTree Labs. We see immense possibilities in their biotech innovation platform, as well as enormous impact we can drive together.” Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, added: “We see the founding team’s commitment and the potential of this company and its technology as a winning combination. “Now more than ever, people are waking up to the benefits of food technology and the massive positive implications of innovations in cellular agriculture.” #TurtleTreeLabs #Singapore

Japanese cultured meat firm IntegriCulture has secured JPY 800 million ($7.44 million) in Series A funding to roll out its cellular agriculture to enterprise customers. The round, which was backed by Beyond Next Ventures, NH Foods and AgFunder, brings its total amount raised to JPY 1.1 billion ($10.2 million). IntegriCulture plans to use its the capital to fund research and development of its cell culture technology, new facilities and equipment and staffing and operational costs. Earlier this month, IntegriCulture launched two cellular agriculture infrastructure solutions packages using its CulNet System with plans to roll out its technology to enterprises now. The company plans to build its cell-based foie gras production site in 2020 for a 2021 launch, followed by the release of processed meat in 2023 and steak in 2025. With its funding, the company also plans to launch cosmetic products based on cultured serum and further explore the ideas for cell-cultured non-food products such as leather and fur. “I don’t think anyone else on the planet has given more thought to how to solve the problems of cultivated meat than Yuki [CEO of IntegriCulture],” said Rob Leclerc, founding partner of AgFunder. Leclerc added: “Bringing down the cost of cell culture media is the central challenge for all cultivated meat companies and IntegriCulture has the most elegant solution we’ve seen to solve this problem.” Tsuyoshi Ito, CEO of Beyond Next Ventures, said: “The environmental footprint and looming supply shortage of meat is a challenging issue in our food system. IntegriCulture offers a potential solution by developing one of the world’s least expensive and best quality cell-based meat. “Their CulNet System technology can be applied to a broad range of cellular agriculture products of food and non-food categories. We support the growth of IntegriCulture to build a sustainable future.” Other investors in the round include Real Tech Fund, Hiroshima Venture Capital and VU Venture Partners. J Skyler Fernandes, general partner at VU Venture Partners, added: “Integriculture’s technology makes the production of cultured meat affordable at scale, and will rapidly increase the commercialisation for the next generation of meat brands.” #IntegriCulture #Tokyo

BlueNalu, a start-up developing seafood products directly from fish cells, has formed a strategic partnership with Nutreco to commercialise cellular aquaculture globally as a sustainable option. The agreement, that builds upon BlueNalu’s cell-based platform technology, is intended to create a more stable and sustainable supply-chain solution as the global demand for seafood is continually increasing. A wholly-owned subsidiary of SHV Holdings N.V., Nutreco is a producer of animal nutrition, fish feed and processed meat products. Through the collaboration, Nutreco aims to bring its expertise in fish nutrition, raw materials and ingredient procurement, as well as its own technology. Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO of BlueNalu, said: “The partnership with Nutreco is another significant milestone for BlueNalu, which will enable our team to accelerate our journey toward commercialisation, while also securing a global supply chain partner. “We expect this will provide significant value to our company, as it is our objective to introduce our seafood products in a test market during the next two years and launch our products in several global markets by the end of this decade.” In 2018, the US cellular aquaculture start-up secured $4.5 million just two months after launching. Recently, the San Diego-based company announced the premier culinary demonstration of one of its first commercial products, whole-muscle yellowtail amberjack, which performed the same as a conventional fish fillet in all cooking applications. “Since the global demand for protein is increasing, we need to provide protein from a variety of sources, including traditional aquaculture farming as well as new innovative solutions. Nutreco’s strategic partnership with BlueNalu is very exciting as it opens the opportunity to up-scale real seafood production in a highly sustainable way,” said Nutreco CEO Rob Koremans. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Nutreco partnered with Mosa Meat to accelerate the commercial release of its lab-grown meat. In 2019, it announced itself as one of the founding members of a new platform in China that enables start-ups to cooperate with global companies, alongside Danone, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. #BlueNalu #Nutreco #US #theNetherlands

Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, has invested in food tech start-up Memphis Meats, a leader in cell-based meat produced directly from animal cells. Tyson, which last year invested in meat alternative brand Beyond Meat, said the move is an example of its “commitment to explore innovative, new ways of meeting growing global demand for protein”. San Francisco-based Memphis Meats expects to use the funds to accelerate product development. The company is currently recruiting to expand its team of chefs, scientists, creative people and business people. It produces beef, chicken and duck from animal cells. The company grows meat in tanks by feeding sugar, oxygen and nutrients to living cells. Last August, Memphis Meats completed a $17 million fundraising round which included investment from Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Cargill. Tyson Foods chief sustainability officer Justin Whitmore said: “We’re excited about this opportunity to broaden our exposure to innovative, new ways of producing meat, especially since global protein demand has been increasing at a steady rate. “We continue to invest significantly in our traditional meat business, but also believe in exploring additional opportunities for growth that give consumers more choices.” Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti added: “We are excited that Tyson Foods will be joining us in our mission to bring meat to the table in a sustainable, affordable and delicious way. “Our vision is for the world to eat what it loves, in a way that addresses today’s challenges for the environment, animal welfare and public health. We are accelerating our work and building out a world-class team to make this a reality.” Memphis Meats has said its process of creating meat uses about 1% of the land and 10% of the water needed for conventional meat production. #Tyson #MemphisMeats #US