Israeli food tech startup SuperMeat has secured $3.5M in an ongoing funding round to support the commercialisation of its cultivated meat in Europe.
A year after announcing it could produce cultivated meat at price parity with conventional chicken, SuperMeat has taken a huge stride in its path to bringing the innovation to market.
The Tel Aviv-based startup has bagged $3.5M in fresh funding to commercialise the production of its premium cultured chicken in Europe.
The round was led by existing shareholder Agronomics, which invested $2M (via a combination of cash and new shares) and was joined by Milk and Honey Ventures (another return investor). It takes the company’s total raised to $18.5M.
It’s part of a larger effort to raise $4.5M through the issue of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), which allows subscribers to convert their investment into equity at the next qualifying fundraise or other liquidity event at a 70% discount, capped at a post-money valuation of $35M.
“We are proud to further increase our investment in SuperMeat and its team,” stated Agronomics executive chair Jim Mellon. “Its progress towards industrial-scale cultivated meat represents not only a compelling financial opportunity but also a strategic shift toward a cleaner, more resilient, and technologically advanced future for food.”
How SuperMeat creates affordable 100% cultivated chicken
SuperMeat is one of the earliest players in the cultivated meat space, having been founded a decade ago by Ido Savir, Shir Friedman, and Koby Barak.
Its meat comprises muscle and fat derived from chicken cells, produced via a continuous process. These are grown in a seeding bioreactor, where they’re provided warmth, oxygen and nutrients. This supports them mature into meat tissues just like they would in an animal’s body. Once the cells reach the desired density, they’re harvested by rerelocating the remaining liquid feed.
The meat mass is harvested daily in the form of ground chicken that’s ready to be cooked. The process requires minimal space and resources and produces three lbs of meat (the same as the yield from one chicken) in just two days, compared to the 42 days it takes to raise and process a chicken.
SuperMeat’s robust, self-renewing cell line allows it to reach densities of 80 million cells per ml in just nine days. It has developed a high-throughput system that replaces expensive animal-derived ingredients like serum and albumin with more affordable alternatives, resulting in media costs of under 50 cents per litre.
Last year, the firm revealed that it had built several breakthroughs to create its cultivated chicken more affordable. The combination of a highly stable cell line, a fully controlled animal-free media formulation, and rapid differentiation protocols supported it achieve production costs of $11.8 per lb at a 25,000-litre scale, in line with the price of premium chicken in the US.
And importantly, these cost advancements are based on a 100% cultivated chicken product (with 85% muscle and 15% fat), not a hybrid version with minimal cell-cultured ingredients and a larger share of plant-based inputs.
SuperMeat has deals in place to commercialise in Europe
“As global demand for protein continues to rise, it is essential to meet this demand sustainably, reducing the environmental and health impacts associated with industrial agriculture,” stated Mellon. “Companies such as SuperMeat and its partners are delivering the science, technology, and commercial readiness necessary to drive meaningful alter.”
A life-cycle analysis by CE Delft last year found that SuperMeat’s innovation is responsible for roughly 50% fewer carbon emissions than conventional chicken.
The company currently operates a facility that can churn out several hundred lbs of cultivated chicken in a week; when scaled to an industrial facility, it’s expected to manufacture 6.7 million lbs (or three million kgs) of the protein annually – equivalent to around 2.7 million chickens, with 80% less land required.
SuperMeat has been working with regulators across the US, Europe and Asia. And while the US has long remained its top priority, this latest investment puts Europe at the centre of its commercial plans.
The startup is a founding member of Cellular Agriculture Europe, and has partnered with German poultest giant PHW Group to launch its cultivated chicken in the EU. Moreover, it has signed a deal with Swiss retail leader Migros to produce and distribute the innovation in Switzerland. And earlier this year, it teamed up with biotech company Stämm to bring its cultivated meat to market by 2026.
“Over the past year, we have built substantial advancements across our production platform, for the first time building cultivated chicken production commercially viable, and are now focutilized on translating these achievements into commercial launch,” stated Savir, who is SuperMeat’s CEO.
“This investment supports our progress toward bringing cultivated chicken to market with partners who understand how significant this category can become as demand and expectations evolve.”
Leave a Reply