Israeli cell-based newcomer Forsea Foods nets US$5.2M to scale cultivated eel

26 Oct 2022 --- Leveraging its patented organoid technology to make nature identical, cultured eel meat at cost parity, start-up Forsea Foods has hooked US$5.2 million toward its catch-free product. Though the eel has become an endangered species due to overfishing, demand for its meat keeps increasing in markets such as Europe and Asia.

The new funding will initially go toward growing cell-based eel meat, which is in high demand for kabayaki and sushi. Forsea is on track to inaugurate its pilot plant in 2023.

“The entire cultivated meat industry is working together in the different territories to help regulatory bodies frame and conclude their regulatory frameworks. I foresee cultivated meats sitting alongside traditionally farmed meats on the supermarket shelves and will relieve the strain currently being placed on traditional farming,” Forsea co-founder Roee Nir, a biotech engineer with an MBA from NYU Stern, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“The approach toward the space is very positive,” he adds. “Singapore has already approved a cultivated product, the US will most likely approve such products either in 2023 or 2024, I assume that a few additional counties in APAC will also do so in the coming years as well as Europe.”

Sustaining continuous cultivation
Founded a year ago with the support of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, part of The Strauss-Group, Forsea is marketing a viable alternative to wild-caught seafood and leaving the fragile marine ecosystem untouched.

Forsea team in Israel (Credit: Forsea).Nir notes that the start-up’s technology platform can produce any type of seafood and fish that it desires. “We are targeting expensive, IUCN-listed species with a real unmet market need. We are working on additional fish species with the purpose of having a large portfolio of premium, delicious cultivated fish and seafood products.”

“With the gradual increase in the production and supply of cultivated meat and seafood, employees will adapt and maybe find jobs in this growing industry. Companies will place their manufacturing facilities close to their target market. So there will be a lot of employment in the space.”

Forsea claims it will also yield the same nutritional profile as traditionally raised seafood.

Appetite for eel
The Japanese eel population alone has declined by 90 to 95%, which has driven prices to astronomical levels. Eel meat sells in Japan for up to US$70 per kilogram.

“Japan is the largest market for eel (Unagi) followed by Europe the US and other APAC countries,” details Nir.

“In Japan, the Unagi is consumed primarily as Kabayaki-a marinated eel on top of rice, or as sushi. In the EU it is consumed smoked. In the US it is consumed either as sushi or smoked.”

Forsea’s new plant will allow the company to create a preliminary design for a large-scale alpha production system, and to launch the company’s first products.

The start-up will invest the newly raised capital to accelerate R&D for both growing eel meat and developing the process for other fish species.

Forsea will also improve and expand its core technology to enable organoid growth in large-scale bioreactors, while developing methods to increase production yield and profitability at a lower cost. These include perfecting a continuous feeding strategy and nutritional support.

Recently Forsea expanded its R&D team and activities to Rehovot, in the heart of Israel’s FoodTech valley.

Forsea seafood market infographic.Patented organoid technology
Cell-based scaffolding – which creates the structure and bite of cultured meat products – is seeing continuous refinement as the movement takes off. One recent key development in this space has been Matrix F.T.’s custom nanofiber scaffolding systems that can be infused with flavor, for instance.

Forsea’s method of production utilizes a novel organoid approach to cultivating fish tissue that creates an ideal environment for fish cells to spontaneously form their natural composition, without growing the fat and muscle tissues separately.

The cells that make up eel meat are grown ex vivo as a three-dimensional tissue structure in the same manner it would grow in a living fish in nature.

This technology bypasses the scaffolding stage and requires fewer bioreactors, a process that is much simpler and more cost effective than traditional cell culturing. 

It also dramatically reduces the amount of expensive growth factors required, making the final product more affordable. 

Dr. Iftach Nachman, co-founder of Forsea, developed the organoid technology to solve the bottleneck of the eel meat industry.

“We can produce a product identical in flavor, texture, appearance and nutritional values to real eel,” emphasizes Nir.

“We have to keep in mind the remarkable advantages of cell-cultivated methods such as reducing environmental damage, saving endangered species, helping recover aquatic ecosystems, producing limitless quantities to nourish the growing population, and supplying unified-quality products in a process that is well-monitored and free from contaminants or hazardous materials.”

Catch of the future
Forsea’s latest seed round was led by Berlin-based Target Global, marking one of the pan-European tech investment firm’s first investments in the food-tech industry. Also invested in the round were The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, PeakBridge VC, Zora Ventures, FoodHack and Milk & Honey Ventures.

“We are eager to take part in Forsea’s quest to create sustainable, better-for-you seafood products that do not disrupt the biodiversity of the oceans,” says Shmuel Chafets, executive chairman and founder of Target Global.

“Forsea is poised to make a dramatic impact on the seafood ecosystem. Its pillar platform solves a bottleneck in the cultivated meat industry by creating affordable, ethical, cultivated seafood products that can replace vulnerable fish species.”

There is new evidence from Good Food Institute (GFI) research that consumers across Japan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and further in the US are growing accustomed to the novel concept of cultivated seafood from cells.

When GFI’s first US-based alternative seafood consumer research was published, less than 87 companies globally were developing alternative seafood. Today, that number has jumped to more than 158 as manufacturers continue to embrace the many opportunities that alternative seafood presents. 

Significant firsts for the sector this year have included “ocean-free” cultured oysters, cell-based shrimp and cultured sashimi.

By Benjamin Ferrer