Israel-based biotechnology company Future Meat Technologies has secured additional funding of $26.75m from its strategic partners.

Future Meat Technologies, backed by major companies such as Tyson Foods, ADM, Müller Group and Rich’s Products Corporation, will use the investment to ramp up production capacity and accelerate research and development.

Future Meat Technologies founder and chief scientific officer Yaakov Nahmias said: “Cultured meat technology is the Apollo programme of the 21st century.

“It required massive efforts of biologists, chemists, engineers and food experts to reduce the cost of cultured meat by over 1,000-fold in just a few years.

“We are proud to be within reach of cost parity with traditional agriculture without any need to resort to genetic engineering, ensuring the supply of safe, delicious food for coming generations.”

The company announced that it also plans to market its products to consumers and restaurants within 18 months.

Future Meat Technologies claims that its cultured chicken offers the same texture and aroma of farm-raised chicken meat through a unique blend of cultured chicken and plant proteins.

In addition to cultured chicken, the company announced that it is also developing cultured lamb kebabs and beef burgers.

Future Meat Technologies CEO Rom Kshuk said: “Cost-efficient production has been a critical focus area for the cultured meat industry.

“This development is a major step forward in Future Meat Technologies’ ability to provide affordable, scalable and sustainable products that can meet the growing demand for meat.”

The Israeli firm also announced that it reduced the production cost of a cultured chicken breast to $7.50.

In October 2019, Future Meat Technologies raised $14m through Series A funding round, which was led by Chicago-based venture capital firm S2G Ventures and Swiss-based venture capital Emerald Technology Ventures.