Future Meat scores US$347M in “largest-ever” cultured meat investment
Co-led by ADM Ventures, the investment will accelerate plans for the mass production of cultivated meat in the US
20 Dec 2021 --- Future Meat Technologies (Future Meat) has raised US$347 million in a series B round of financing. The round was co-led by ADM Ventures – the venture investing arm of ADM, a global player in human and animal nutrition.
The funding also included participation from a global investor in key technology companies the Menora Mivtachim pension and insurance fund, which manages over US$85 billion in assets, and S2G Ventures.
Other investors included industry players Tyson New Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods and Rich Products Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, ADM Capital (Cibus Fund), Bits x Bites, and the Sander Group.
Future Meat notes these investors represent “massive support” from key players in North America, Europe and Asia.
Future Meat recently opened the world’s first cultivated meat production line in Israel.“This financing consolidates Future Meat’s position as the leading player in the cultivated meat industry, just three years after our launch. Our singular technology reduced production costs faster than anyone thought possible, paving the way for a massive expansion of operations,” notes Dr. Yaakov Nahmias, founder and president of Future Meat.
“Our team will break ground on the first-of-its-kind, large-scale production facility in the US in 2022.”
A boost for alt-proteins
According to Ian Pinner, senior vice president of strategy and innovation at ADM, partnerships like these are critical ways ADM can create and capture new value in growth segments like alternative proteins.
“We’re eager to support the Future Meat team in their efforts to continue developing groundbreaking solutions that will provide high-quality and scalable cultivated meat products to consumers in the years to come,” he remarks.
Future Meat opened the world’s first cultivated meat production line in Israel earlier this year and is now scouting several locations in the US for its projected large-scale production facility.
“The entire cultivated meat industry is a massive agent of change, creating a sustainable future for coming generations,” adds Nahmias.
Cultivated chicken breast reduction
Alongside its series B funding, the company has also announced it is producing cultivated chicken breast for just US$7.70 per pound, or US$1.70 per 110-gram chicken breast. This is down from under US$18 per pound just six months ago.
This cost reduction already surpassed the 18-month timeline projection announced in May of 2021 by the company’s former chief executive, Rom Kshuk.
“We have consistently demonstrated that our single-cell technology and serum-free media formulations can reach cost parity faster than the market anticipates,” continues Nahmias.
“Our proprietary media rejuvenation technology enables cell densities greater than 100 billion cells per liter, translating to production densities ten-times higher than the industry standard.”
Future Meat’s proprietary technology is based on stainless steel fermenters which continuously remove waste products generated by “immortal” tissue cells.
Building on the company’s proprietary tech
Future Meat’s proprietary technology is based on stainless steel fermenters which continuously remove waste products generated by “immortal” tissue cells.
This allows the company to maintain a stable physiological environment that supports the rapid and natural proliferation of animal cells. The company proved that this connective tissue method is more robust and efficient than others using stem cells, and that its rejuvenating fermenters can recycle over 70% of the nutrients.
It is also the most cost-efficient manner available today, a key factor enabling Future Meat’s industry-leading low costs, which has been the most significant hurdle in bringing cultivated meat to cost parity with traditional meat.
Last week, Eat Just’s Good Meat division was granted regulatory approval to sell new types of cultivated chicken products in Singapore.
Meanwhile, Aleph Farms and protein tech supplier Wacker recently revealed they are collaborating to develop new fermentation-based growth medium proteins, which will eliminate significant cost barriers for the mass-produced cultivated meat.
Edited by Elizabeth Green
