European food tech company Mosa Meat, the start-up behind the world’s very first cultured meat hamburger, has closed a Series B investment round to scale cell-cultured beef production further. This final and third closing of US$10 million brings the total raised in the round to US$85 million.

The funding brings together global investors with a wealth of knowledge, which will help Mosa Meat scale up to real beef production sustainably and safely, the company notes.  

The Series B funding round is led by Luxembourg-based Blue Horizon Ventures. This food technology fund aims to support and promote a positive global impact on the environment, human health, and animal welfare. 

Contributors to this last closing include new and existing investors like Nutreco, a global business specializing in animal nutrition and aquafeed, and Jitse Groen, CEO of Takeaway.com. 

Mosa Meat welcomes this group of investors after its successful Series A funding in 2018, led by M Ventures and Bell Food Group.

Scaling up
“We are delighted to extend our collaboration with existing partners and welcome new partners in this round,” says Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat. 

“The closing of Series B funding brings us one step closer to our mission to develop a cleaner, kinder way of making real beef. Our partners bring immense strategic capabilities and expertise and share our commitment to increasing the sustainability of our global food system.”

“I’m delighted that Mosa Meat has reached its next milestone toward large-scale production of real meat,” says Rob Koremans, CEO of Nutreco. 

According to Koremans, Nutreco is invested in its strategy of Feeding the Future, which will require protein production from traditional and alternative protein production methods. 

“Our partnership in Mosa Meat is an important part of our strategy to help to meet the growing demand for high-quality protein,” he adds.

How will the funding be used? 
Mosa Meat will use the funds to extend its current pilot production facility at its home in Maastricht, the Netherlands, develop an industrial-sized production line, expand its team, and introduce cultivated beef to consumers.

Mosa Meat was co-founded by Professor Mark Post, a leading scientist who created the first cultured hamburger in 2013, and early investors include Google’s Sergey Brin. The company aims to revolutionize the way industry makes meat so it can match the global demand for sustainable meat production. 

Mosa Meat collaboration with Nutreco is also alongside Lower Carbon Capital, a US-based venture capital fund investing in “planet healing technologies. The partnership aims to accelerate the market introduction of Mosa Meat’s lab-grown meat products which could be on the market within the next few years.

The Bell Food Group also increased its stake in Mosa Meat last summer as part of a financing round to raise money for the construction of an industrial production plant and drive forward the development and scaling-up of technology.