November 9, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Roslin Tech, the Edinburgh-based food and agtech specialist, announced its close on an £11 million (US$11 million) Series A led by Novo Holdings that will fuel the next wave growth toward its goal of becoming the leading provider of animal cell lines to the cultivated meat sector. 

Joining Novo was joined in this round by  Kairos Capital Group, Nutreco, Future Planet Capital, Esco Lifesciences, Alchimia, and private investors.

This adds to funding received in 2021-2022 from Scottish Enterprise and existing shareholders including the University of Edinburgh’s venture capital fund, Old College Capital, and Future Planet Capital’s BIF Opportunities LP.

“We are excited to welcome Novo Holdings and other investors on our journey to improve the food system,” said Ernst van Orsouw, CEO, Roslin Tech. “With the investment and strategic support, we can accelerate the development of better cells for the sector and focus on making our customers successful.”

In recent years, concerns associated with animal protein production have increasingly come to the fore, including antibiotic resistance, sustainability, animal welfare, food-borne illnesses, and perhaps most pressingly, the environmental impact of such production systems.

Exacerbating these concerns is the knowledge that meat consumption is projected to grow by 40-70 percent by 2050 to keep pace with population growth and global consumption shifts. And although all food production carries with it some level of carbon footprint, meat production is a stand-out offender. 

Cultivated meat offers the promise of improved animal welfare, lower antibiotic use, and reducing the footprint of meat production. However, to realize this promise, the ultimate products need to deliver on the sensory experience at lower production costs.

Currently, there are 100 companies active today working with billions of dollars to make this happen. And a key factor needed to reach this goal is high-quality cell lines. 

Roslin Tech has developed pluripotent animal stem cells with the capacity to self-renew indefinitely and to differentiate into desired end-tissue for meat. The company is making these cells available to the world’s cultivated meat producers with customers in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

With the capital from this round, Roslin Tech will be able to expand its cell line portfolio and further develop the protocols for the scale-up of its cells into cost-competitive biomass. The company stated that this will be accomplished jointly with its customers, development collaborators, and the University of Edinburgh. 

“We are delighted to welcome Novo Holdings as partner and look forward to jointly supporting Roslin Technologies,” said Catherine Martin, vice principal of corporate services, University of Edinburgh. “The scale of this new investment and the caliber of its source is a testament to the expertise and experience of the Roslin Technologies team and a great indicator of likely future success.”

The company stated it also plans to invest in its insect venture which focuses on breeding better insects for the emerging regenerative insect protein sector.

“We’ve been impressed with Roslin Technologies’ team and innovative technologies, which have the potential to materially improve the production of novel, sustainable proteins,” said Nis Bak, principal, Novo Holdings and new board member of Roslin Tech.

“We are excited to invest alongside a strong syndicate of investors whose joint vision for Roslin Technologies and complementary capabilities will be a great asset to the company in its continued development.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.