In the Netherlands, Dutch cell-based meat maker Meatable has raised $47 million to build a small-scale test unit at the Biotech Campus Delft and add new products to its portfolio.
The company is focusing on cultivating meat using pig and cow induced pluripotent stem cells instead of growth factors, which make up much of the cost of cultivated proteins and is seen as a hurdle for widespread use of lab-grown meat. Meatable is also exploring scaffolding materials that allow fat and muscle to be cultivated concurrently.
The round brings the company’s total funding to $60 million. New investors include DSM Venturing, Dr. Rick Klausner, Section 32, and Dr. Jeffrey Leiden. Existing investors BlueYard Capital, Agronomics, Humboldt, and Taavet Hinrikus also participated.
“Last year we finally proved that we can grow pork using our opti-ox technology on a porcine pluripotent cell,” CEO Krijn de Nood tells FoodNavigator-USA. “For the first time in history, we have successfully differentiated pluripotent cells into fat and muscle with unprecedented speed and efficiency. “
Meatable hopes to have the Delft unit running by year-end and gain approval in Europe by 2023.