Jennifer Stojkovic is the founder of Vegan Women Summit, the author of The Future of Food is Female, and General Partner of Joyful Ventures.
South Africa’s Immobazyme Raises $1.3M to Boost Production of Precision Fermentation-Derived Proteins
South Africa’s Immobazyme, a precision fermentation company spin-off from Stellenbosch University, has raised $1.3 million in a recent investment round led by the University Technology Fund (UTF) with the participation of Innovus (University of Stellenbosch Enterprises). Immobazyme develops high-value proteins for various industries, including cultivated meat. The new capital will support the company’s production expansion, which includes doubling its current facility size and scaling its platform. This round brings its total …
Op Ed: Brett Thompson, CEO Newform Foods, on Expanding the Definition of Meat
Brett Thompson founded Mzansi Meat Co., Africa’s first cultivated meat company, in the middle of lockdown, and the company became Newform Foods this summer after a rebrand and new strategy, redirecting its focus from being a consumer brand to offering meat cultivation technology. Here, Thompson explains that after spending time in the field of cellular agriculture, recently establishing a demonstration facility for cultivated meat products in Cape Town, he believes …
Newform Foods and Project Assignments Partner to Install Demo Facility for Cultivated Meat Products in Cape Town
South African companies, the biotech Newform Foods (previously Mzansi Meat) and the engineering giants Project Assignments have partnered to install a demonstration facility for cultivated meat products in Cape Town. According to the biotech’s announcement, it will be the largest of its kind in Africa, serving as a demonstration platform for Newform Food’s cutting-edge biotechnology at scale. The company, which claims to have a pioneering production model, aims to expand its …
Newform Foods Launches the Plenty Foundation to Fight Food Insecurity With Cultivated Protein
South Africa’s Newform Foods (previously Mzansi Meat) has launched the Plenty Foundation, a nonprofit aiming to address food insecurity and malnutrition in Africa through biotechnology. While plant-based proteins will be an important part of this strategy, the Foundation will also work with Newform Foods to enhance the taste and nutrition of plant-based foods with cultivated proteins. As part of its overall strategy to reduce undernourishment rates, the Plenty Foundation will …
My Experience at the Historic GOOD Meat Cultivated Meat Tasting at COP27
Mogale Meat Unveils Africa’s First Cultivated Chicken Breast
South Africa’s Mogale Meat reports to vegconomist that On March 30th, the company produced what it says is the first cultivated chicken not only in South Africa, but in all of the African continent. The chicken breast is composed of real chicken muscle and fat cells blended with what it refers to as a “mushroom matrix”. This is the first prototype to be showcased by the company and a signature …
Mzansi Meat to Unveil “Africa’s First Cultivated Meat Burger”
South African company Mzansi Meat is set to showcase what it claims is Africa’s first cultivated meat burger. The product will be revealed at a bespoke event in Cape Town next month. To produce Mzansi’s burgers, cells are extracted from cows by a veterinarian and taken to the company’s lab. There, they are grown in bioreactors, replicating the process that would normally take place in a cow’s body. Finally, the …
CULT Invests in Africa’s First Precision Fermentation Company De Novo Dairy
Africa’s first precision fermentation company De Novo Dairy this week received an early-stage investment from Canadian cellular agriculture investment company CULT Food Science Corp. The investment strengthens the alt-protein space in Africa, as well as the ongoing investment boom in fermentation companies CULT Food Science claims that this net-new exposure to cell-based dairy continues to broaden its cell-based portfolio, in which well-established companies can be found, including Singapore cultivated seafood …
South Africa’s Mogale Meat on Track to Make Cultivated Meat “Accessible to All” in Africa
South-African cellular food-tech company Mogale Meat is working on solutions to face Africa’s food security issues and aims to make a significant contribution to feeding the next billion people with meat created from the cells of free-roaming antelope and cattle. Launched in 2020, Mogale Meat has two US-based global venture capitalists on board with Sustainable Food Ventures, founded by Ryan Bethencourt, and CULT Food Science. Mogale Meat joins the South …