Today Meatable, the cultivated meat company, announced their Series A fundraise of $47 million.
And there’s a connection to bit.bio.
As well as being bit.bio’s CEO and founder, Dr Mark Kotter is also the co-founder of Meatable.
The link – opti-ox™ technology which makes the manufacture of both bit.bio and Meatable products possible.
“As a clinician, my focus has always been to serve and increase the health of my patients. My involvement in Meatable extends this remit to some of the major health issues that our Earth is currently facing: climate change, the ethical challenge of animal slaughter. And it’s all possible because of the technology that underpins not just Meatable but bit.bio. Technology that has finally unlocked precise and scalable manufacturing of cells whether they are human cells for medicines and drug discovery or pork cells for meat. It’s amazing to see this series A raise, all off the back of an experiment that started in a research laboratory several years ago in Cambridge.”
Synthetic biology has already had an impact but mainly with engineering bugs, like e.coli. opti-ox technology is enabling this new class of mammalian based synthetic biology companies to emerge. And the investors backing both Meatable and bit.bio is testament to how exciting this area is.
“This is a nascent industry. Once you have access to an unlimited supply of mammalian cells, you start to see all sorts of possibilities. My focus with bit.bio is on medicines using cells, drug and disease research using cells all with the goal of improving global health. Meatable wants to solve issues relating to food supply, animal welfare and farming which all have a positive knock-on effect on climate change. There will be more, some of the ideas may be mine, some may come from others like Daan and Krijn. The key is to not be closed minded, see the potential future here where a whole new industry, that is totally geared towards improving global sustainability, is built on our newfound access to unlimited mammalian cells.”
Find out more about Meatable and their cultivated meat here.