ImpactAlpha, March 1 — Netherlands-based alternative protein company Mosa Meat uses cow cells — without having to slaughter them — to naturally grow beef. It says it can make 80,000 beef burgers from just one sample. The company has raised $85 million in a Series B investment round to hire more employees, launch its lab-grown beef in the consumer market and expand pilot production at its headquarters in Maastricht.
Blue Horizon Ventures, a foodtech impact fund whose mission is to create a positive global impact on the environment, human health and animal welfare, led the round. In June last year, it backed alt-breast milk startup BIOMILQ (see, “BIOMILQ secures $3.5 million for milk grown in a lab”).
Other investors in the round include Rubio Impact Ventures, ArcTern Ventures, Nutreco, Bell Food Group and M Ventures.
Lab-grown startups
Lab-grown meat companies are raising capital as they inch closer to bringing affordable products to market. Israel-based Future Meat this month raised $26.8 million in an equity funding round to bring its lab-grown chicken to market; Berkeley, Calif.-based Memphis Meats hauled in $161 million to build a plant in the Bay Area to produce lab-grown chicken, duck and beef; San Francisco-based Wild Type secured $12.5 million in a Series A round to develop lab-grown lox and salmon fillets; and Emeryville, Calif.-based Finless Foods scored $3.5 million for its bluefin tuna product.
