Meatable Gains Momentum as $35m Investment is Secured to Support Expansion of Commercial Launch

Image: Meatable co-founders Daan Luining (CTO) and Krijn de Nood (CEO)

Credit: Meatable

A new influx of capital will assist a Dutch food technology company in launching its inaugural line of cultivated meat products by 2021.

Meatable, a company specializing in cultivated meat, secured $35 million to boost its operations and speed up the introduction of its pork products to the markets starting in 2021.

Venture capital firm Agronomics was at the helm of the newest financing round, with Dutch impact fund Invest-NL adding $17 million. This injection brings Meatable's total investment to $95 million, and several existing investors have returned to show their support. These investors include BlueYard, Bridford, MilkyWay, DSM Venturing, and Taavet Hinrikus, chairman and founder of Wise.

The business declared its new financing would be employed to expand its manufacturing capability and streamline procedures to lower production expenses as it works towards its goal of becoming price competitive with traditional meat.

Meatable has developed a patented process that utilizes pluripotent stem cells to replicate the natural growth of cells taken from animals. This pioneering technology reportedly allows the production of raw muscle and fat cells in a mere eight days, progress achieved in May.

This new injection of funds is expected to speed up the commercial introduction of Meatable's offerings. Its products, including sausages and pork dumplings, will be distributed to select restaurants and stores in Singapore beginning in 2024, a year earlier than the plan to launch widespread retail.

The firm is aspiring to bolster its presence in America after two of its competitors got the go-ahead from regulators to start selling their items. The Netherlands was also the first European nation to authorize companies to arrange cultured meat samples officially.

Krijn de Nood, the CEO and co-founder of Meatable, mentioned that the further investment made by both old and new partners exemplifies their trust in the company's products and strategies.

It was stated that 14% of the world's global emissions are attributed to the traditional meat industry, thus demonstrating the need for an alternative to reduce the environmental damage our diets are causing.

We are sure that cultivated meat can be the solution, and we have the necessary means and procedures to make it happen. We anticipate collaborating with our investors as we move toward our upcoming development phase and become the premier global player.

Invest-NL's senior investment manager, Bastiaan Gielink, expressed that they were "genuinely enthused" by the groundbreaking efforts of Meatable.

He believes that cultured meat can bring about significant progress in animal welfare, CO2 emission reduction, water and land consumption, and antibiotics elimination. His quest to find suitable alternatives for a protein that will bring about a sustainable and circular environment is never-ending.

We are confident that Meatable has the resources and people to turn their achievements into a genuine possibility.

The independent research company CE Delft recently conducted a study that discovered that using cultivated meat could result in a 92% carbon footprint reduction compared to conventional beef and a 95% decrease in land use impact. This news follows the announcement of Meatable's latest funding round.

The Good Food Institute reports that in 2022, investors put close to $900 million into the sector. Additionally, the Netherlands declared a $65 million public investment in cellular agriculture initiatives in the preceding year.

In February, a UK-based biotech startup with expertise in tissue engineering created the first steak fillet entirely made of cultivated meat. Later in June, Uncommon, a cultivated meat startup, was supported with $30 million to develop their technology and gain regulatory approval for the cell-grown pork products.