Future Meat Technologies, an Israeli developer of cultured meat, on Dec. 20 announced $347 million in new financing and that it is now producing cultivated chicken breast for just $7.70 per pound, or $1.70 for a 110g chicken breast, down from under $18 per pound just six months ago.
Both parts of the news announcement are indicative of how fast the technology of cultured -- or cultivated or lab-grown -- meat is advancing.
Future Meat claims the Series B round of financing was the largest investment ever in cultivated meat. It was co-led by ADM Ventures, the venture investing arm of ADM, the Menora Mivtachim pension and insurance fund and S2G Ventures. Other investors included Tyson Ventures, Rich Products Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, ADM Capital (Cibus Fund) and Bits x Bites.
Future Meat also has been in unspecified talks with Nestle SA.
Future Meat opened the world's first cultivated meat production line in Israel earlier this year and is now scouting several locations in the United States for its projected large scale production facility.
"Our singular technology reduced production costs faster than anyone thought possible, paving the way for a massive expansion of operations," said Professor Yaakov Nahmias, founder and president of Future Meat. "Our team will break ground on the first-of-its-kind, large-scale production facility in the United States in 2022."
Future Meat's proprietary technology is based on stainless steel fermenters that continuously remove waste products generated by "immortal" tissue cells. This allows the company to maintain a constant physiological environment that supports rapid, natural proliferation of animal cells. The company claims this connective tissue method is more robust and efficient than others using stem cells, and that its rejuvenating fermenters can recycle over 70% of the nutrients.
"We have consistently demonstrated that our single-cell technology and serum-free media formulations can reach cost parity faster than the market anticipates," added Nahmias.
