The Cultured Hub Facility Finally Opens, Positioning Switzerland as a Leader in Scaling Cell-Based Foods
The Cultured Hub has launched a “scale-up as a service” facility for cell-based foods in The Valley in Kemptthal, Switzerland, and celebrated its opening yesterday with the State of Play Cultured Foods 2.0 event. The Cultured Hub is a joint venture between three Swiss industry giants — Migros, Givaudan, and Bühler Group as first announced in 2021 — that aims to leverage their extensive food processing and product development experience to …
Cradle Secures $73M to Revolutionize Planetary Health with AI-Driven Protein Engineering
AI biotech company Cradle has raised $73 million in a Series B funding round led by IVP and backed by Index Ventures and Kindred Capital, bringing its total funding to over $100 million. Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Zurich, Switzerland, Cradle was founded by ex-Googlers Stef van Grieken (CEO) and Daniel Danciu (CTO) in 2021 to make biology engineering more accessible and efficient with AI. Its team comprises machine learning …
Women-Led Startup Sallea Secures $2.6M to Advance Plant-Based Scaffolds for Cultivated Meat Whole Cuts
Zurich-based Sallea, a startup developing edible, food-grade, plant-based scaffolds for the cell ag industry, announces it has raised $2.6 million in a pre-seed funding round. Founderful, Switzerland’s leading pre-seed fund, led the round, joined by Kost Capital, a VC focused on sustainable food systems. The round follows $1.8 million in non-dilutive funding previously secured through research and startup grants. Sallea was founded in November 2023 by an all-female team, including …
Survey Explores Swiss Acceptance of Cultivated Meat and Precision Fermentation
On behalf of Swissveg, YouGov recently conducted a representative survey on the acceptance of cultivated meat and precision fermentation derived products in Switzerland. The survey found that flexitarians are most in favour of cultured meat. 47% of meat-reducers would buy such products if they were already available. The new products received the least approval from vegans and vegetarians with only 22%, but essentially, such products are not aimed at vegans …
Investment Climate Podcast: Tomas Turner of Cultivated Biosciences – How to Get Funded in 2024
In this podcast series, co-produced by vegconomist, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Episode 06: …
Pulmuone Announces New Collab to Streamline Cultivated Seafood Using AI Robotics
South Korean plant-based foods producer Pulmuone has signed a business agreement with ABB Korea Robotics, the local corporation of Switzerland’s ABB, to develop cultivated seafood. The collaboration aims to automate the cultivation process for seafood using ABB’s robotics technology, with a target of mass-producing cultivated seafood products by 2026. According to the announcement, the companies hope to spearhead research and development in AI robotics for cellular agriculture. At the same …
Bell Food Group CEO Expects Cultivated Meat Burgers to Hit Swiss Restaurants in 3 Years
Lorenz Wyss, the outgoing CEO of the Swiss meat and convenience food giant Bell Food Group foresees that cultivated burgers will be available in Switzerland in three years. In an interview published on Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), Wyss predicts that the products will be available first in restaurants rather than in supermarkets; but the burgers could initially contain only cultivated fat. “It is possible that at the beginning you will only cultivate individual …
Cultivated Biosciences Raises $5 Million for Yeast-Derived Cream and 2025 Market Launch
Swiss biotech Cultivated Biosciences announces it has raised $5 million in a seed round to accelerate the development of its yeast-derived cream and prepare for a market debut. After successfully testing its application in dairy-free coffee creamers, milk, and ice cream products, the company says it is now focusing on scaling up production and building collaborations to introduce the ingredient in consumer products. Pending regulatory approval for consumption, the company plans to …
Food Brewer Secures Over CHF 5M for Cell Cultured Cacao & Coffee
Food Brewer AG, a biotech startup leveraging plant cell culture headquartered in Campus Horgen, Zurich, Switzerland, has raised over CHF 5 million in a seed round. Various investors, including family offices from Switzerland and the USA, the Zürcher Kantonalbank, and chocolate manufacturer Max Felchlin AG, backed the startup’s biotechnological approach to making alternatives to cocoa, coffee, and sustainable fats. With the new funds, Food Brewer will invest in R&D for its cell lines, expand …
Swiss Biotech Planetary and Japan’s Konica Minolta Partner to Cut Costs of Fermented Proteins
Swiss firm planetary SA (Planetary), the world’s first integrated biomass and precision fermentation CDMO, has partnered with the Japanese giant in imaging technology, Konica Minolta Inc. to optimize and reduce the production costs of its fermentation technologies. The ultimate aim is to accelerate the production of fermented proteins, including dairy, egg, fats, and mycoproteins, that can compete with the prices of similar commodity products in the market. The newly announced collaboration, following the signing …