Ones to watch: Cultivated Meat

It’s no longer a question of whether meat grown in a lab will become a thing: it’s a question of when. By growing real meat from animal cells rather than raising and slaughtering animals, companies in cellular agriculture are addressing critical issues including environmental sustainability, food security and ethical concerns related to factory farming.  

Prof Robin May, the chief scientist from the UK’s Food Standards Agency said he and his colleagues are looking at how it can speed up the approval process for lab-grown foods.

It could mean meat, dairy and sugar grown in a lab could be on sale in the UK for human consumption for the first time within two years, sooner than expected signalling a major shift in the expected timeline for mainstream adoption. 

In the same article, it was revealed that dog food made from factory-grown meat was now on sale in the UK.

Recently Harpswood attended a climate event and heard from Ivy Farm Technologies, one company aiming to be the UK’s leading producer of cultivated meat.

Innovation is at the heart of this industry. Here, we explore five of the most exciting businesses leading the charge in cultivated and alternative protein solutions.

Believer Meats

Israel-based Believer Meats is pioneering the first cultivated meat production system that produces meat without relying on fetal bovine serum (a common but ethically contentious growth medium) - a significant breakthrough in reducing production costs and improving ethical sustainability. 

In 2021, the business launched the world's first industrial cultured meat production facility in Rehovot, Israel. The pilot plant can produce 500 kilograms of cultured meat daily, translating to approximately 182,625 kilograms annually. 

This year, Believer plans to open one of the world’s largest manufacturing facilities for cultivated meat in North Carolina. The facilities will feature an innovation centre and tasting kitchen and are expected to produce 12,000 tonnes of cultivated chicken every year for consumers in the U.S. and beyond. 

Such scalability is a crucial step toward bringing down costs and making lab-grown meat widely accessible to consumers, cementing the business as one of the most ambitious in the space and undoubtedly one to watch.

Nexture Bio

One of the biggest challenges in the industry is replicating the texture and mouthfeel of traditional meat. Nexture Bio is working to solve this with its proprietary bioengineering technology, which enhances muscle tissue formation and improves the structural integrity and chewiness of cultivated meat. 

By focusing on developing fibrous and structured proteins that closely resemble conventional meat cuts, the business is paving the way for cultivated meat to achieve widespread acceptance and adoption in the market.

The startup is currently in the seed funding stage, having secured $1 million in its latest funding round. Notably, Big Idea Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm specialising in food technology and alternative proteins, is among its investors.

Nexture Bio is also innovating in the realm of scalable production, ensuring that cultivated meat products are not only realistic but also economically viable for mass distribution. 

This focus on texture, combined with cost-efficient production strategies, positions the company as a key player in the race to commercialise cultivated meat at scale.

Ivy Farm Technologies

Ivy Farm Technologies is a UK company at the forefront of the cultivated meat industry. Using advanced bioengineering techniques developed at the University of Oxford, Ivy Farm produces real meat that is grown in a lab. 

The company’s mission is to make slaughter-free meat mainstream and have a real and lasting impact on traditional carbon-intensive meat production.

The word ‘Ivy’ is a stand-in for ‘in vitro’ - a scientific term for a process that takes place outside a living organism, such as inside a test tube, or in Ivy Farm’s case, a 600-litre bioreactor tank called Betty. 

They have patents pending in 12 countries relating to their technology and have three distinct, short-, medium- and long-term goals.

Firstly they want to license their unique biotechnology to other businesses, then sell the muscle and fat they produce as raw ingredients to other food producers and ultimately develop a range of cultivated meat products and create a brand for consumers to enjoy.

Financially, Ivy Farm has demonstrated robust growth. As of September 2023, the company has raised a total of $40.4 million over six funding rounds, reflecting strong investor confidence in its innovative approach and potential market impact.

Hoxton Farms

The London-based biotech is developing cultivated animal fat to combine with plant protein for meat alternatives.

Founded by biologist Max Jamilly and mathematician Ed Steele the company's focus is on producing cultivated fat—the key ingredient that enhances flavour and triggers the strongest cravings. 

They secured $22 million in Series A funding in October 2022 and it allowed them to move into a new production facility.

Unlike other companies in the sector, they are not trying to grow meat in a lab.

Instead, they will use just a few drops of cultivated fat to significantly enhance the taste and overall appeal of numerous plant-based products. 

The ‘hybrid’ products with Hoxton Fram’s fat will sizzle, smell and taste like traditional meat. 

At the moment they are focused on cultivating real pork fat. 

Aleph Farms 

The Israel-based cultivated meat company specialises in producing steaks from non-genetically modified animal cells. 

The cells for one of its products, the cultivated Petit Steak, came from a cow named Lucy, who lived on a farm in California.

Founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, Professor Shulamit Levenberg, and The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, the company is focused on creating sustainable meat alternatives that reduce the environmental impact of traditional livestock farming.

The company has secured significant investment to scale its operations. In its most recent funding round, Aleph Farms raised $105 million in a Series B round led by L Catterton’s Growth Fund and DisruptAD, with additional support from existing and new investors. 

This brings Aleph Farms’ total funding to over $118 million.

The capital is being used to expand globally, scale up manufacturing, and develop new product lines. The company is also working with regulatory agencies to prepare for market entry.