Investment Climate Podcast: Del Afonso of Harmony Baby Nutrition Shares How to Get Funded in 2026
In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2026 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. This podcast is syndicated through …
Vivici Debuts Precision-Fermented Lactoferrin in the US Market
Dutch precision fermentation specialist Vivici has announced the U.S. launch of its lactoferrin ingredient, Vivitein™ LF. The company will showcase its portfolio of functional protein ingredients at Expo West 2026 in Anaheim. According to a company statement, Vivitein™ offers nutrition innovators a lactoferrin ingredient that overcomes the supply and cost constraints of traditional lactoferrin production: “Vivitein™ LF is produced through precision fermentation, unlocking access to one of dairy’s most valuable …
Verley Secures $38 Million Series A to Commercialize Precision-Fermented Dairy Proteins
French precision fermentation company Verley has secured an oversubscribed $38 million Series A financing round, four years after its inception. The round brings together top European players: new investors, including Alven leading the round, Blast and the French Tech Seed fund managed on behalf of the French government by Bpifrance as part of France 2030, and historical investors Sofinnova, Sparkfood, Captech and Founders Future. With additional non-dilutive support from Bpifrance, …
YouTube Star MrBeast Visits UPSIDE Foods in New Video With Over 60M Views
MrBeast, a YouTuber with 464 million subscribers, recently paid a visit to California-based cultivated meat producer UPSIDE Foods. UPSIDE appears in a new MrBeast video titled “$1 vs $1,000,000,000 Futuristic Tech!” The video discusses various revolutionary new technologies, including cultivated meat, and has over 60 million views at the time of writing. Viewers can watch as Jimmy Donaldson, the creator behind MrBeast, tours UPSIDE Foods to learn how cultivated chicken …
Revo Foods Applies 3D Structuring Tech to Cultivated Fish in Partnership with Atlantic Fish Co
Atlantic Fish Co and Revo Foods have entered a collaboration to develop hybrid seafood products that combine cultivated whitefish cells with mycoprotein-based structuring technology. The two companies are testing whether mycoprotein matrices can be used as a scalable platform to support cultivated cell integration for whole-cut seafood formats. Atlantic Fish Co, based in North Carolina, has developed proprietary whitefish cell lines and tissue engineering processes. Austrian startup Revo Foods contributes …
UPSIDE Foods Launches New Spinoff Lucius Labs to Commercialize Cell Culture Media
US cultivated meat company UPSIDE Foods has recently launched a spinoff called Lucius Labs. As first reported by AgFunderNews, the new company will create cell culture media for the life sciences industry. In a LinkedIn post, Bob Newman, Chief Scientific Officer at UPSIDE Foods, explained that the company had “developed deep expertise in cell culture media based on extensive work in cultivated meat”. Consequently, UPSIDE has decided to sell cell …
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’ …
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 …