Upside Foods has privately raised US$400 million from investors including the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Temasek, Tyson Foods, Cargill Inc and Scottish fund manager Baillie Gifford amongst others, signifying a vote of confidence that its lab-grown meat can gain regulatory approval and be sold to US consumers soon.
Formerly known as Memphis Meats, Upside is one of several startups attempting to produce edible meat in a lab using animal cells cultivated in large brewery-like facilities. Upside has not sold any products to the public yet but it expects to sell ‘chicken’ after US regulatory approval. The company also made beef, pork and duck products using its technology.
Proponents say lab-grown meat could reduce the need for animal antibiotics and help decarbonise the food industry by reducing land and water usage as well as emissions. It could also eventually cut the time it takes to produce meat products and simplify supply chains. Despite the positivities, lab-cultured meat has so far only been approved for sale in Singapore, and it cost so much more than meat produced from ‘slaughtering’ animals.
The latest Series C fundraising round is one of the largest ever in the nascent cultured-meat industry history and it values Upside at more than US$1 billion.
Founded in 2015, Upside hopes its products will be approved by US regulators for sales to consumers by the end of this year and plans to use the funding to scale its commercial production facility, said CEO Uma Valeti.
Apart from Upside, other players in the same industry have also raised significant sums with accumulated total funding of US$2.2 billion in 2021. For example, Good Meat, a division of plant-based egg-alternative maker Eat Just Inc., raised US$267 million last year and is selling its chicken products in Singapore. Israel-based Aleph Farms raise US$100 million from Cargill and other investors.
A major barrier to cultivated meat producers is to gain general consumer acceptance for their products. Consumer education is the key for future success, as consumers have many options to consider and they include real meat and plant-based meat amongst others.
