As customers’ curiosity within the setting and diet rises, food-tech corporations be part of the race to invent meat options. In 2021, various seafood corporations obtained $175 million in investment globally, growing 92% from 2020. A South Korean startup known as CellMEAT, which develops cell-based shrimp, has secured $8.1 million (10 billion KRW) Collection A funding to compete with 120 companies around the globe that produce various seafood.
The brand new spherical of funding, which brings its whole raised to $14.1 million, will assist CellMEAT proceed the analysis and improvement of its lab-grown shrimp, ramp up pilot manufacturing of its prototype shrimp to 10 kilograms per day from 5 kilograms and increase its choices to different cultivated seafood, together with crustaceans like lobsters and crabs, CellMEAT co-founder and CEO Giljun Park stated in an interview with Avisionews.
CellMEAT intends to enter Singapore, the one nation to approve various meat merchandise on the market. It goals to commercialize its cultivated shrimps as early as 2023, concentrating on B2B and B2C customers, Park continued. CellMEAT can be eyeing the U.S. after coming into Asian international locations, Park famous.
Late final yr, CellMEAT introduced the event of its personal fetal bovine serum (FBS)-free cell tradition medium. Its animal-free cell tradition know-how would assist carry the shrimp meat price all the way down to roughly $20 or much less per kilogram, Park stated.
CellMEAT isn’t the one startup creating animal-free cell tradition medium know-how on this house. San Diego-based cultured seafood firm BlueNalu, which partnered with Japanese sushi restaurant operator Meals & Life Corporations (F&LC) to develop cell-cultured tuna early this yr, has cultivated yellowtail fillets in a serum-free answer. San Francisco-based Finless Foods has developed lab-grown bluefin tuna utilizing its personal animal-free progress media. Hong Kong-based Avant Meats makes use of animal-free serum for its cell-based seafood manufacturing.
Traders together with NauIB, BNK Enterprise Capital, Robust Ventures and Ryukyung PSG participated within the Collection A funding. CellMEAT is contemplating elevating an extension of Collection A this yr, Park advised Avisionews.
Based in 2019, CellMEAT raised $4 million in its pre-Collection A funding in January 2021. The startup has 25 workers.
