Participated · Series C · Apr 2022

Upside Foods, led by CEO Dr. Uma Valeti, is developing a way to grow real meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells without raising or slaughtering animals. The company raised $400M in a Series C to support commercialization and scale-up. Upside plans to use the funds to build a commercial production facility with a planned annual capacity of tens of millions of pounds of cultivated meat products and an initial focus on chicken. The facility is being designed to produce any species in both ground and whole-cut formats. Proceeds will also be used to build a supply chain for critical cell feed components to reduce costs and enable greater scale, and to invest in R&D for next-generation cultivated products. Other priorities include enhancing consumer education and continuing to grow its more than 170-person team; pending regulatory review, Upside expects to be available to U.S. consumers later this year. Memphis Meats develops methods to produce meat, poultry and seafood directly from animal cells without breeding or slaughtering animals. Led by co-founder and CEO Uma Valeti, M.D., the company demonstrated a cell-based meatball in February 2016 and a cell-based poultry product in March 2017. It plans to build a pilot production facility, continue growing its team, and launch products into the market. The company completed a $161m Series B and has raised more than $180m in total funding to date. The round also extends Memphis Meats’ coalition into Asia, which the company sees as a strategically valuable market. Memphis Meats develops cell-cultured “clean meat,” having already synthesized beef, chicken and duck in small-scale production. The company is focused on scaling production and lowering cost so meat can be grown at commercial scale. It envisions production facilities that resemble craft breweries where meat is grown, harvested and cooked rather than slaughterhouses. Current operations are small-scale and used for testing and development; the team tests many cell varieties and can produce enough meat to feed a family of four-to-eight for a big meal. Future product work includes targeting flavor profiles and consistencies to make the tastiest meat possible. The company presents the offering as actual meat produced directly from cells rather than plant-based substitutes. Memphis Meats positions the technology as a potential large-scale alternative to conventional animal agriculture. Memphis Meats develops biologically identical meat grown from animal cells in a lab, aiming to produce real meat without industrial animal slaughter. The company cultivates cells in dishes to create ground and, eventually, formed meats such as chicken breast, steak and potentially whole turkey. It positions its products as cruelty-free and more planet-friendly than conventional animal agriculture, citing water use and foodborne-illness concerns with traditional meat. Memphis Meats operates from a Bay Area lab and has produced prototype products (including video of a beef-like product). The company aims to get its “clean meat” products on shelves within the next five years and is working to prepare consumer acceptance. Financially, it has raised a $3 million seed round and is running an Indiegogo campaign that has brought in more than $52,000 from nearly 700 backers.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2021

Arcaea develops cell-grown cosmetic ingredients using Ginkgo Bioworks’ platform to program cells to produce functional materials such as keratin and sun-protection components. The company plans to grow keratin in bioreactors without animal sourcing, enabling local production and shorter supply chains that reduce emissions. Arcaea aims to create entirely new, engineered ingredients by reprogramming proteins to deliver specific effects (for example, altering hair structure to curl or straighten). Founder and CEO Yasmina Aganovich previously founded Mother Dirt in 2015 and left in 2019 to become an entrepreneur-in-residence at Ginkgo, where she established Arcaea. The startup intends to supply its ingredients to cosmetic brands and also plans to release its own product line. Management says it will take several years to bring new products to market, is investing heavily in R&D now, and expects lab-grown ingredients ultimately to be priced comparably to existing market alternatives. Financially, Arcaea has secured $78 million from major beauty players including Chanel, perfumery company Givaudan, and Viking Global Investors.