Liberation Bioindustries Restructures Leadership as Indiana Facility Nears Completion
Liberation Bioindustries has restructured its executive team, with co-founder Etan Bendheim stepping into the role of Chief Executive Officer, while fellow co-founder Mark Warner transitions to Chief Technology Officer. The change comes as the company approaches the operational launch of its first commercial-scale precision fermentation plant in Richmond, Indiana. Technical focus takes priority Warner, who previously served as CEO, will now focus on technical execution and infrastructure development. “This transition …
Wildtype and UPSIDE Foods Gain Early Win in Lawsuit Against Texas’ Cultivated Meat Ban
A federal judge has denied the State of Texas’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Texas’s ban on the sale of cultivated meat. The lawsuit has been brought by public interest law firm the Institute for Justice, on behalf of Californian cultivated meat and seafood companies UPSIDE Foods and Wildtype. US District Judge Alan Albright held that the plaintiffs’ dormant Commerce Clause claim may proceed. However, he denied the companies’ …
Maia Farms Raises $2.7M in Oversubscribed Funding Round to Scale Mushroom & Mycelium-Based Ingredients
Maia Farms, a Canadian food tech company developing mushroom and mycelium-based ingredients, has secured $3.75 million CAD ($2.7 million USD) in an oversubscribed seed equity round. The round was led by Active Impact Investments, with follow-on investments from Nya Planet, Ag-West Bio, PIC Investment Group, and Deep Checks. Maia Farms previously announced strategic and non-dilutive support from Genome BC, Natural Products Canada, Protein Industries Canada, and the National Research Council …
Virginia Lawmakers Consider Labeling Bill for Plant-Based and Lab-Grown Meat Alternatives
The Virginia General Assembly is currently reviewing proposed legislation that would impose specific labeling requirements on plant-based, cell-cultured, and other non-traditional meat products. Senate Bill 186, introduced by Senator Angelia Williams Graves (D–District 21), seeks to define and regulate what it terms “misbranded” meat and poultry products. Under the proposed bill, any food item marketed as a meat or poultry product but containing a “manufactured-protein food product,” a category encompassing …
Ambrosia Collective to Launch Protein Powder Made From Solar Foods’ Air-Based Protein in the US
Solar Foods, the Finnish producer of air-based protein, has received an order from US-based sports nutrition and health supplement brand Ambrosia Collective. Ambrosia plans to launch a ready-to-mix protein powder made from Solar Foods’ Solein® protein in the US. The product will be sold under Ambrosia’s Planta brand, and will be one of the first Solein-powered protein powder products available to consumers anywhere in the world. Ambrosia develops and produces …
Aqua Cultured Foods Shuts Down After Five Years Developing Fermented Seafood Alternatives
Chicago-based startup Aqua Cultured Foods has officially shut down operations, marking the end of a five-year effort to commercialize whole-cut seafood alternatives produced through biomass fermentation. Co-founded in 2020 by Brittany Chibe and Anne Shaeffer, Aqua developed a proprietary fermentation process that converted cellulose into high-fidelity, fish-free seafood analogs. The startup focused on producing raw-style filets intended to replicate tuna and scallops in appearance and texture, targeting both fine dining …
BlueNalu Secures $11M in Financing to Advance Commercialization of Cultivated Bluefin Tuna Toro
BlueNalu, a US-based producer of cultivated seafood, has announced new convertible note and preferred stock financings. The round was led by Agronomics, Siddhi Capital, and Lewis & Clark AgriFood, with participation from around 40 other existing investors. Through the insider-led financing, BlueNalu has secured approximately $11 million in cash and stock proceeds. The capital will be used to support the market entry of BlueNalu’s cultivated bluefin tuna toro, once this …
Illinois Ranks Third in US for Alternative Protein Companies, Report Finds
A newly released report from the Illinois Alternative Protein Innovation Task Force outlines a multi-sector plan to expand the state’s role in alternative protein production, citing benefits across economic development, public health, and agricultural diversification. The report is the result of a two-year review led by the task force formed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2023, described as the first of its kind at the state level in the United …
Cultivated Meat Company Believer Meats Ceases Operations
Cultivated meat producer Believer Meats has announced that it is ceasing operations after “two years of building something truly bold and special”. The news was shared on LinkedIn by Anne Schubert, Global Vice President of Talent & Human Resources at Believer Meats. She said the move had been a “difficult decision” and “not what any of us hoped for”, but did not reveal why the company was closing down. The …
Pow.Bio Partners With Bühler to Offer an Integrated Continuous Precision Fermentation Platform
Pow.Bio has announced that it is teaming up with Bühler Group to bring an integrated continuous precision fermentation platform to market. The collaboration will work to advance industrial biomanufacturing by accelerating process development, reducing unit production costs, and improving operation performance. Traditional fermentation processes rely on batch or fed-batch processes, which require the tank to be emptied and cleaned between runs. However, the new partnership combines advanced model-driven control software …