Meatable secures further investment to accelerate commercial launch

The Dutch firm has now raised a total of $95m (£74.6m) to develop its alternative proteins, with this latest round including $17m (£13.4m) in backing from Invest-NL.

Other investors include UK venture capital firm Agronomics. Meatable hopes to launch its cultivated meat range with selected retailers and restaurants in Singapore from 2024, while also establishing a presence in the US.

Singapore and the US are the only countries in the world where the sale of cultivated meat is currently legal, and Meatable is already working with regulatory authorities in Singapore to secure approval for its products, which include sausages and pork dumplings.

The food technology firm is also due to take part in controlled tasting sessions in the Netherlands, the first European country to approve such a process.

Meanwhile, applications for the sale of cultivated meat have been submitted in the UK and Switzerland by Israeli start-up Aleph Farms​.​

Cultivated meat ‘the answer’ to food emissions

Meatable chief executive and founder, Krijn de Nood, said that the manufacturer was “thrilled​” to have Invest-NL as a new investor.

“This is a huge sign of confidence in the incredible quality, taste, and proven scalability of our product, especially in the current investment climate​,” de Nood added.

“When 14% of the world’s global emissions comes from the traditional meat industry, it’s clear that there needs to be an alternative that reduces the harm our diets are currently causing the planet. We believe cultivated meat is the answer and we are confident we have the tools and the processes in place to make this a reality.”​

Invest-NL senior investment manager, Bastiaan Gielink, said the progress made so far gave the fund confidence that Meatable could deliver on the potential of cultivated meat.

“Cultured meat has the potential to deliver unrivalled impact in terms of animal welfare, CO2 equivalent emission reduction, water use, land use and antibiotics abatement​,” Gielink added.

“Our pursuit for appropriate protein alternatives that further a sustainable and circular society remains ceaseless​.”