Cultivated meat company seeks to increase capacity, accelerate research and development.

September 21, 2021

3 Min Read
Lab meat petri dish Getty1077963602.jpg
LABELING OF LAB MEAT: FSIS soliciting comments on how to ensure proper labeling of meat and poultry products derived from live animal cells. Getty Images/iStock Photos

Eat Just Inc. announced this week that its GOOD Meat division has secured $97 million in new funding, adding to the initial $170 million publicized in May. The overall $267 million fundraise is the largest to date in the cultivated meat sector, which analysts predict could become a $25 billion global industry by 2030.

New and previously announced investors include UBS O’Connor, a hedge fund manager within UBS Asset Management; Graphene Ventures; K3 Ventures; Resilience Reserve, a venture capital fund founded by entrepreneur Rob Reid and TED curator Chris Anderson; businessman Fernando Chico Pardo and others. GOOD Meat will use the funds to increase capacity and accelerate research and development for high-quality, real meat made directly from animal cells. ABG, LLC; BofA Securities, Inc.; Guggenheim Securities and VERSO Capital advised on the transaction.

GOOD Meat also announced it has added two highly regarded food and agriculture leaders to its ranks. Dan Glickman, who is well-recognized in the fields of agriculture, nutrition, hunger, bipartisan politics and public policy, will serve on its advisory board; and Jim Borel, former executive vice president of DuPont, will join its board of directors.

Glickman served as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001; spent nearly two decades as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives; and is actively involved with organizations that fight domestic and global hunger and promote agricultural research in pursuit of a safer, more sustainable food system. Borel, who during his four-decade career at DuPont led its DuPont Pioneer, Crop Protection and Nutrition & Health businesses, is also on Eat Just’s board of directors.

“I'm proud to see our company take the next step toward building large-scale cultivated meat production. This investment, along with the guidance of Secretary Glickman and Jim Borel, puts us in a position to execute our plans in multiple regions around the world,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.

Glickman commented, “I’m delighted to join GOOD Meat’s advisory board where I can assist the company in its efforts to provide protein options that can ultimately help feed a growing and hungry population worldwide, safely and sustainably. While I will always support family farmers’ work to feed the world in the U.S. and elsewhere, this company’s innovative technologies can augment opportunities over the longer term for consumers to expand their choices and improve their diet.”

The investment and additions of Glickman and Borel follow GOOD Meat’s announcement earlier this month that it plans to build the first-ever cultivated meat facility in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region through a partnership with Doha Venture Capital and Qatar Free Zones Authority. The QFZA and the Ministry of Public Health have indicated their intention to grant regulatory approval for GOOD Meat cultivated chicken very soo

In March, parent company Eat Just announced a $200 million round, and in late 2020, the company secured in Singapore the first-in-the-world regulatory approval of cultivated meat. Since then, through a partnership with partnership with foodpanda, Asia's leading food and grocery delivery platform, hundreds of customers have enjoyed GOOD Meat’s chicken.

 

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