Brazil is the world’s biggest exporter of beef and the second-biggest producer of beef in the world after the US, which makes this news even more compelling. Aleph Farms, Ltd., and BRF S.A., a global Brazilian meat and food company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bring cultivated meat to the Brazilian dinner table. BRF will distribute Aleph’s cultivated beef products across Brazil.
Cellva Shifts Focus to Microencapsulation Technology with Launch of Cocoa Substitute
Cellva has recently undergone a strategic pivot, refocusing its efforts on microencapsulation technology, which it sees as central to its future growth. This shift is accompanied by the consolidation of its research and development and administrative operations, all aimed at streamlining its processes and reinforcing its commitment to sustainable food solutions. The future of cocoa The company’s new direction is highlighted by the launch of CoffeeCoa™, a cocoa substitute developed …
GALY Raises $33M From Bill Gates’ BEV, H&M, and Inditex to Advance Climate-Resilient Cultivated Cotton
GALY, a plant-cell culture startup based in Brazil and Boston, USA, has raised $33 million in an oversubscribed Series B financing round to advance its proprietary platform for cultivated cotton from lab to pre-industrial scale. Additionally, the funds will support expanding R&D efforts to improve the quality of “GALY Cotton” and develop other sustainable alternatives to traditional crop-derived commodities. The funding round was led by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), with …
LATAM’s Mycoprotein Innovator ‘Typcal’ Secures R$250K From Brazilian Government
Brazil’s Typcal, a startup pioneering mycoprotein in Latin America, has been selected by the Paraná Anjo Inovador to receive R$250,000 in funding. A spinoff of Fungi Biotechnology, the startup was founded in 2021 by bioprocess engineer Eduardo Sydney (CTO) and food industry entrepreneur Paulo Ibri (CEO) to leverage biomass fermentation to develop a mycoprotein ingredient for food applications. Typcal was one of the 68 selected in the program’s first call …
Brazil’s First Precision Fermentation Startup Future Cow Prepares to Scale Up Production of Animal-Free Milk
Future Cow, a Brazilian food tech startup founded in 2023 by entrepreneur Leonardo Vieira and food scientist Rosana Goldbeck, aims to revolutionize dairy production with precision fermentation, creating real milk without cows. Considered Brazil’s first cellular agriculture startup using precision fermentation, Future Cow gained momentum through São Paulo’s Antler residency program, securing a $150,000 initial investment. Soon after, in a funding round led by Antler and Big Idea Ventures as part of …
Brazil’s Cellva Raises R$6.5 Million to Develop Cultivated Pork Fat
Cellva Ingredients, the first startup in Brazil to develop and produce cultivated animal ingredients, starting with pork fat, has raised R$6.5 million in its first financial round. Seed4SCience from Fundepar led the round with the participation of ProVeg Incubator, the Spanish fund Rumbo Ventures, and the Rio Grande do Sul angel investor network EA Angels. Cellva expects to close the round by March 2024, aiming to raise R$10 million. The startup …
Meat Giant JBS Begins Construction on $62M Innovation Centre for Cultivated Meat
JBS, the largest meat processing company in the world, announces it has commenced construction of Brazil’s first research facility focused on food biotechnology — the JBS Biotech Innovation Centre. Located at Sapiens Parque innovation hub in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, and scheduled to open at the end of 2024, the center aims to be a model facility to produce cultivated meat efficiently, scalable, and at competitive prices. “As a global leader …
Brazil’s State-Owned Embrapa Develops Cultivated Chicken & Cell Biobank
The Swine and Poultry Unit of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), which is carrying out a study about cultivated chicken, has announced it is developing a chicken breast fillet prototype that should be ready for nutritional and sensory analysis by the end of 2023. Embrapa, established by the country’s federal government in 1973 for the sustainable development of Brazilian agribusiness, has been essential in Brazil’s poultry and swine production. With …
JBS Enters Cultivated Meat With Acquisition of BioTech Foods and $100M R&D Center in Brazil
Brazil’s JBS – the largest meat processing company in the world – announced it is to purchase Biotech Foods, a cultivated meat producer based in Spain. JBS will also establish a cultivated meat R&D centre in Brazil as part of a $100 million drive, with JBS stating that the “acquisition marks the company’s entry into the cultivated protein market,” according to Reuters. The deal reportedly includes $41 million for the building …