3 minute read
Backed by Big Idea Ventures, ProVeg International, and Realum.cloud, incubator fat startup Cultimate has raised €700,000 in a pre-seed funding round.
Germany-based Cultimate Foods is committed to upgrading its meat alternatives with cultured fats that create the taste and mouthfeel of traditional animal products. , we are able to fully validate the cultured fat product solution and prepare the technology for the pilot phase.
animal fats in plant foods
“Our ultimate goal is to provide breakthrough ingredients for the plant-based meat industry. We are focused on developing the most important part of the meat experience: fat. Cultimate offers all the attributes of meat that are missing in currently available meat alternatives,” Cultimate co-founder George Zheleznyi said in a statement.
The company has expanded its R&D team and opened its own laboratory in Göttingen, Germany.
“I believe science is the answer to many of the problems in the food industry and, by extension, to climate change. while reducing livestock production and CO2 emissions,” says Eugenia Sagué, co-founder of Cultimate, who previously held several positions in the plant-based food industry.
Cultimate is the latest company to focus on the hybrid market, bringing cultured animal cell products to alternatives such as plant- or fungi-based proteins.
Sustainable food demand
The demand for sustainable and ethical protein continues to grow, as does meat consumption. Global meat consumption could double he by 2050. The world’s leading climate and health organizations regularly call on consumers to eat less meat and slow the impacts of climate change for good health. Meat production is a major producer of greenhouse gases.
Cultimate says the hybrid market presents huge opportunities for the global food system and can reduce production costs and impacts.
The funding announcement follows several other funding rounds in the animal fat sector. Hoxton Farms and Nourish Ingredients both raised Series A rounds last month. Hoxton uses a similar cell culture approach, and Nourish utilizes microbial fermentation to replicate the texture and function of fat.
It’s not just animal fats that are undergoing innovation. Earlier this month, his C16 Biosciences, a biotech company backed by Bill Gates, announced it would launch its first consumer palm oil product next year.
Lead image courtesy of Cultimate.
