Cell-Based Start-Up Meatable Bags US$47 Million Series A Funding
Dutch start-up Meatable has closed US$47 million in its Series A funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to US$60 million. Meatable finalised its first showcase product in 2020 and aims to use the new funds to advance small-scale production at the Biotech Campus Delft and to diversify its product portfolio.
The consortium consists of Dr. Rick Klausner, Section 32, Dr. Jeffrey Leiden, and DSM Venturing, and includes existing investors, such as BlueYard Capital, Agronomics, Humboldt, and Taavet Hinrikus, showing continued support. They recognise the positive impact cultivated meat will have on climate change, see the trillion-dollar potential of the cultivated meat marketplace, and are betting on Meatable to solve the industry’s scalability and speed-to-market challenges with its patented opti-oxTM technology.
Dr. Rick Klausner, former director of the US National Cancer Institute and former Executive Director of Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sees great potential in Meatable and its technology.
“We are committed to joining Meatable in its mission to address the world’s most pressing challenges. We see a smart start-up that has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. They have a great team and game-changing technology that can address the challenges around the global food insecurity issues our planet is facing,” said Klausner. “They have all the right ingredients to become the leading choice for sustainably and efficiently produced meat.”
Meatable’s proprietary platform technology enables a fundamentally more cost effective and scalable production process. It replicates the natural process of fat and muscle growth, in proportions that emulate traditional cuts of meat. The entire process, when fully developed, is expected to take only weeks to produce meat, whereas it takes years to grow a live animal.
“To be able to meet the growing demand for meat in Asia and across the world, with Asia having the biggest pork demand in the world, we need breakthrough solutions. 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 realizing that potential is a huge step for Meatable,” said Krijn de Nood, CEO and co-founder of Meatable.
Meatable aims to produce cultivated meat, for which no animals are slaughtered, fewer GHG emissions are released, and significantly less land and water are required. And, unlike plant-based alternatives, the end-product will provide the full experience of eating actual meat, with the same texture, taste, and nutritional benefits.
After successfully completing its first pork showcase product, Meatable is currently focused on the further development of cultivated pork and beef. Meatable’s technology is adaptable to any cell-based species, including cows, pigs, sheep, and fish, giving the company great opportunity for further product development.