UK cultivated meat company Meatly has begun fit-out work on a new pilot facility in London, less than two weeks after closing its £10.4 million Series A round. Once complete, the site is expected to house 20,000 litres of bioreactor capacity, which the company says would make it the largest cultivated meat facility in Europe.
CEO Owen Ensor confirmed the start of construction via LinkedIn, writing: “Just two weeks after closing our latest fundraising round, we’ve already started fit-out work on Meatly’s new pilot facility. It will be Europe’s largest-ever cultivated meat facility once complete.”
Targeting the pet food market by 2027
The facility is intended to support a planned 2027 product launch in the UK pet food sector. Meatly holds a regulatory approval for cultivated chicken in the UK, granted in 2024, and conducted a retail trial in 2025, making it the first company in Europe to sell cultivated meat commercially. Production at the new site will be directed toward that market.
Founded in 2022, Meatly has concentrated its technical work on reducing costs rather than expanding product range. The company previously reported bringing its chemically defined, protein-free growth medium to £0.22 per litre, and reported a roughly tenfold reduction in bioreactor costs in 2025.
Build team
Ensor named the contractors involved in the fit-out, including 3pm Project Management, Cast Labs, BondBryan:Fairhursts, CPC Project Services, Hive Group, Greengate Mechanical Services, and Conquest Electrical Installation Services.
“Seeing the space for the first time really brought home just how far we’ve come,” Ensor wrote.
