Israeli bio-tech startup SuperMeat announced that it has raised $3 million in a seed funding round. The startup was founded in Tel Aviv in 2015 and is one of the growing number of lab-made meat startups, which are seeking to capitalize on the sustainable food sector. The company’s “clean meat” as it called is created by simply growing cells extracted from chickens, which will render the traditional approach of raising meat for slaughter unnecessary. Furthermore, projections have shown that the demand for meat is likely to double by 2050.

Earlier in 2016, the startup had raised more than $200,000 in crowd funding from Indiegogo .The amount raised recently is the first external equity based funding raised by the company. The participants in this round included the U.S based Venture Capital firms, New Crop Capital and Stray Dog Capital and PHW (which is a Germany based billion dollar poultry company).

The amount of land ,water and energy used in the care for animals being raised for slaughter, has had a significant impact on the environment. Addressing the environmental concerns surrounding the traditional meat industry, the company has cited a study conducted by prominent universities, which states that switching to “ clean meats” will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions up to 98%, land exploitation up to 99% and excess water usage up to 96%

SuperMeat, however, is not the only “clean meat “start-up. A number of “meat substituting” companies have entered the market with what they term to be a more sustainable approach. In August 2017,the start-up Memphis Meat raised $17 million from prominent investors like DFJ, the food giant Cargill, Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Atomico. Furthermore, the U.S based meat giant Tyson Foods, increased its stake in the plant based food startup Beyond Meat.

Figures from a report released by the U.S Department of Agriculture have indicated that that the average consumer in U.S will consume 222.2 pounds of meat in 201 , thereby surpassing the previous record created in 2004,  of 221.9 pounds of meat per person. Suffice to say, meat is a growing business segment,;however, the environmental issues associated with the traditional meat industry, are making startups like SuperMeats attractive to institutional investors and food giants like Cargill and PHW.

“SuperMeat is consistent with our pursuit to provide Europe with sustainable, clean foods – we do not see this transaction as a financial transaction , but rather as a beginning of a long term strategic partnership,” said PHW-Gruppe CEO Peter Wesjohann. “We look forward to working together with Super Meat and are committed to supporting the company in its research and development, as well as the strategic positioning of its products in the European Market,” he added.

As per a statement released by the company, its clean meats products are expected to enter the market within the next three years and are to be sold at a price similar to the traditional chicken products currently available in the market.

However the “clean meats” industry still is in the nascent stages of development. Hence SuperMeats will have to face a variety of challenges, including creating a product that can compete with traditional meat products not only in taste, rather also in terms of price. Thus a manufacturing process must be developed that will enable the “clean meat “ farms to take advantage of economies of scale.

“This partnership (with PHW) will enable us to bring to market a revolutionary new generation of tasty, sustainable meat products throughout Europe and beyond,” the CEO of SuperMeat, Ido Savir, said when speaking about the investment.

(Picture courtesy: Wikipedia)