重新定义肉, a food 3D printing firm developing animal-free meat, has raised $29 million in Series A funding that it plans to use to support its commercial launch this year. The funds will also be used to expand the firm’s alt-meat portfolio and drive its international growth.
The funding round was led by venture capital firmsHappiness Capital和Hanaco冒险, and was also joined by alternative protein investorCPT Capital和several other investment firms.
“We are thrilled to have concluded this round of funding with such a unique and diverse group of highly experienced, professional investors who share our vision,” said Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, CEO and Co-founder of Redefine Meat. “This funding, which was concluded faster and better than we could have imagined a year ago, is a major step towards becoming the world’s biggest alternative meat company by 2030.”
Redefining meat products through 3D printing
Founded in 2018 with the goal of addressing the全球肉类行业的可持续性，重新定义肉类使用3D打印来产生植物性的肉类替代品，以模仿烤肉和牛排的外观，质地和风味。
The companyraised $6 million in seed fundingin 2019 to advance the development of its alt-meat 3D printer, which purportedly has a 95 percent smaller environmental impact in comparison to animal meat produced through conventional means. The following year, the firm revealed itsfirst industrially 3D printed Alt-Steak productcomprised of its own Alt-Muscle, Alt-Fat, and Alt-Blood set of formulated plant-based ingredients.
Most recently, the firmcompleted a successful blind-tastingin a suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel, which gave more than 600 customers the chance to try its range of 3D printed meat products. After feedback revealed the taste, texture, and mouthfeel of Redefine Meat’s products were comparable to that of animal meat, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Israeli meat distributor Best Meister. The partnership will see Best Meister distribute Redefine Meat’s alt-meat products commercially to Israeli restaurants and high-end butchers.
Scaling up for commercialization
After securing its first strategic commercial agreement with Best Meister earlier this year, Redefine Meat is seeking to drive its international growth throughout the rest of 2021, and further commercialize its alt-meat products within new markets.
The company currently has a large-scale pilot line under construction to step up the commercialization of its products, and will deploy what are reportedly the first-ever industrial 3D alt-meat printers within various meat distributors later this year. Investors in the company’s latest funding round believe its technology has the potential to make a “meaningful impact” on global meat consumption.
“Hanaco Ventures has been an investor in Redefine Meat since its seed round in 2019,” said Pasha Romanovski, Founding Partner of Hanaco Ventures. “The speed at which the company has progressed has been incredible. We have been very fortunate to work closely with Redefine Meat during 2020 and have watched the company rapidly grow from eight people to more than 40, despite the challenges of Covid-19.
“Our investment in Redefine Meat gives us first-hand access to amazing state-of-the-art meat dishes that will have a profound impact on meat-eating and the environment.”
根据投资者幸福之资本的说法，重新定义肉类可以填补Alt-Meat部门的空白，以充分满足仍然想要吃传统肉类但希望更可持续的人们的需求。
“借助准备生产的技术和强大的战略合作伙伴，重新定义肉类有望提供高质量的肉类替代品，可以对全球肉类消费产生有意义的影响，”幸福资本首席执行官Eric Ng补充说。
3D printed food a commercial reality?
The 3D printed food sector, while very much still in a developmental phase, has seen relative progress in moving towards products and systems with commercial potential over the past year. Besides Redefine Meat, fellow Israeli food-tech startupsSavorEat和肉技术3D在过去的几个月中，有自己的收益raising $13 million in its Initial Public Offering(IPO)特拉维夫证交所(射击)。
Meanwhile, Meat-Tech, which already trades on the TASE, successfully printed a centimeter-thick cultured beef structure for the first time. According to the firm, this development has brought it one step closer to develop high-throughput 3D tissue printing technology. To achieve this, Meat-Tech also plans to acquire cultured fat developerPeace of Meatto扩展到全球蛋白质替代品市场.
For the moment, 3D printed food seems to be more in line with academia, with 3D printing having been deployed to make mealssafer and more appealingfor people with swallowing disorders, andnovel methods to 3D print cooked foodbeing explored.
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特色图片显示a whole cut of Redefine Meat’s Alt-Meat Steak. Image via Redefine Meat.
