Future Meat Secures Record-Busting $347 Million In Series B Funding Round

Israel’s Future Meat Technologies has secured the world’s largest ever funding raise for the cultivated meat sector. Its $347 million Series B round was co-led by ADM Ventures with participation from Menora Mivtachim, S2G ventures, and meat giant Tyson Foods, amongst others. Funding is being cited by Future Meats as confirmation of its industry-leading status and paves the way for “massive expansion”.

In addition to new investment, Future Meat has announced significant reductions in its manufacturing costs. The news comes ahead of schedule and represents a breakthrough in terms of commercial viability and affordability.

Setting records across the industry

Earlier this month, the company revealed it was hoping to raise $320 million in an ongoing investment round. Now, Future Meat has released confirmation of $347 million in funding. The money will allow for overseas production facilities to begin construction, once the right site has been identified.

“We are incredibly excited by the massive support of our global network of strategic and financial investors,” said Professor Yaakov Nahmias, founder and president of Future Meat, in a statement. “This financing consolidates Future Meat’s position as the leading player in the cultivated meat industry, just three years after our launch. Our singular technology reduced production costs faster than anyone thought possible, paving the way for a massive expansion of operations. Our team will break ground on the first-of-its-kind, large-scale production facility in the United States in 2022.”

Regulatory approval is pending in the U.S. for cultivated products. Being able to reduce costs while scaling up for mass manufacture puts Future Meat in a strong position. The company opened the world’s first cultivated meat production line in Israel earlier this year. Now it is scouting for the perfect location for a North American plant. The construction of said site will allow faster realisation of the company’s mission to create a “sustainable future for coming generations”.

Funding co-leader ADM brings comparable sustainability commitments and industry insight to the relationship. “Partnerships like these are one of the key ways ADM is creating and capturing new value in growth segments like alternative proteins, and we’re eager to support the Future Meat team in their efforts to continue developing groundbreaking solutions that will provide high-quality and scalable cultivated meat products to consumers in the years to come,” said Ian Pinner, senior vice president of strategy and innovation, in a statement.

Driving down costs

Back in May, former Future Meat CEO Rom Kshuk announced a timeframe for reducing the cost of its cultivated chicken breasts. At the time, they cost $18 per pound. The company revealed that it hoped to bring that down to $7.70 within 18 months. The target has been reached already. Breasts now come in at $1.70 per 110g serving. “We have consistently demonstrated that our single-cell technology and serum-free media formulations can reach cost parity faster than the market anticipates,” said Nahmias.

Fellow Israeli food tech Aleph Farms is also focussed on driving price parity forward. The company has just announced an open supply chain agreement with Munich-based Wacker. The latter will supply food-grade growth mediums for Aleph’s cultivated products, but not exclusively. The movie is intended to bring costs down across the entire industry.

All images courtesy of Future Meat.