Meatable Shuts Down: Latest Cultivated Meat Company Casualty

Netherlands-based company Meatable has become the latest casualty in the cultivated meats category, as the company wound down operations and has dissolved, according to a report in the NL Times citing a release from Meatable investor Agronomics.

Meatable, which was founded in 2018, was “unable to obtain continued funding from either existing shareholders or from new investors” this past year, the Agronomics release said, and thus, all operating activities were ended and the Meatable legal entity was dissolved.

Meatable certainly wasn’t sitting on its laurels over the past year, working hard to find support in the U.S. traditional meat industry as a supplemental supply source for animal protein starting earlier in the year, alongside efforts to attract additional investment. Food Processing was invited to visit Meatable in the Netherlands in spring 2025, as part of a larger, industry-targeted open house and conference of sorts. And although the event, company and its products appeared to be well-received, the international audience attending was noticeably larger than that from the U.S.

In September, CEO Jeff Tripician departed Meatable after about 16 months, and on the Food For Thought podcast earlier this month, he discussed some of the roadblocks the company had faced attempting to make inroads into the U.S. — and how they impacted his decision to return to lead a traditional animal protein company in the States.

Agronomics clarified in the release that it has invested £7.9 million (about $10.6 million U.S.) in Meatable to date, which will be written down to zero. The company is based in London and invests in companies in the field of cellular agriculture, with a portfolio of more than 20 companies.

The closure of Meatable is just the latest higher-profile hit to the cultivated meat market, particularly among companies focused on attempts to bring the product to market in the U.S. Earlier in December, Believer Meats — which had FDA and USDA approval to make and sell its cultured chicken — made the unexpected announcement that it would shut down, having run out of funding. Believer Meats had just finished its Wilson, N.C., processing facility earlier this fall.

Further emphasizing the trying times around the segment in the U.S. (and possibly portending some of the troubles ahead), one of the trade publications that specifically covered the cultivated (and plant-based) meat industry in the U.S. shut down in early November as well.