October 6, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Once a topic for science fiction, the possibility of creating lab-generated meat on a commercial scale is becoming more and more plausible, while the environmental and social benefits of such a system are catching the attention of both consumers and high-profile investors.

Reflecting this, the Good Food Institute found that in just Q1 2020, cellular meat companies raised $189 million in funding – double the total funding to the category in all of 2019.

From its registered office in Maastricht in the Netherlands, Mosa Meat is a pioneer of cultured beef. The startup developed a technology for producing lab-grown beef from animal cells, leading to the company’s unveiling of the world’s first lab-produced hamburger in 2013.

This first pilot lab-created hamburger cost approximately $280,000 at the time due mostly to a lack of scale and the high price of inputs needed for production, including costly fetal bovine serum. However, as technology advances, scaling becomes more easily attainable, and Mosa Meat has replaced fetal bovine serum with an unidentified non-animal replacement.

Today, Mosa Meat announced an additional $55 million in funding led by Blue Horizon Ventures as part of its larger Series B as it begins to shift momentum toward bringing its technology to retail shelves. 

In July of this year, the company secured an additional EUR 5 million (US$ 5.9 million) from Bell Food Group – a return investor that originally invested EUR 2 million (US$2.3 million) in the company in 2018 – when the company raised its Series A, which included M Ventures, Nutreco, Lowercarbon Capital, and Bell Food Group. 

That same month, the company announced the achievement of a significant milestone – the reduction of the cost of its growth medium – the most expensive aspect of the production process – by 80 times, and had previously accomplished removing fetal bovine serum from the production process. 

And, as the company shifts beyond the challenges of the lab, and toward getting products onto retail shelves, it announced in January of this year a strategic partnership with Nutreco, which has made an undisclosed investment in the company.  

This newest capital will also support the company as it scales up production to meet the demands of retail, being used to extend its current pilot production facility in Maastricht, develop an industrial-scale production line, expand its team which currently stands at 50 scientists, and raise consumer awareness of cultivated beef. 

Although there isn’t an established timeline to introduce its products to consumers, the company stated it will be working with regulators to demonstrate the safety of cultivated beef to secure the necessary approvals to begin selling in Europe – a goal the company hopes to achieve in H1 2022.

“We are very excited to welcome our new partners and see existing partners continue our journey together,” said Maarten Bosch, CEO, Mosa Meat.

“With their support and capabilities, we have the opportunity to take the next concrete steps to scale production, make progress towards a cleaner, kinder way of making real beef, and ultimately increase the resilience, sustainability, and safety of our global food system.”

Meat production uses one-third of the world’s fresh water and land surface, while also generating one-fifth of all greenhouses gas emission. And as evidence mounts that the global animal protein production system is not sustainable, plant-based meat analog and lab-grown meat producers are both increasingly coming into the crosshairs of mission-driven and forward-thinking investors.

Both plant-based and lab-grown meat startups are aiming for the same target – to carve out a portion of the meat market (worth about $200 billion in the U.S.) such as plant-based milks did in the dairy aisle.

All of the company’s work to streamline its production process, lower costs, and to create partnerships and regulatory relationships that will advance its ability to reach market have made it a well-placed player when looking to the next phase of business development, according to lead investor Blue Horizon.

“We are excited to be joining Mosa Meat as lead investor in this round,” said Dr. Regina Hecker, partner, Blue Horizon Ventures, who will be joining the Mosa Meat board. “Following a thorough investigation of its technology and team, we are convinced that Mosa Meat is strongly placed to pioneer the scale-up of cultured meat.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.