Cultured meat company builds up with funding

An Estonian start-up company that aims to reduce the cost of growing meat from cell-cultures has raised $1.2 million in seed funding. Based in Tallinn, Gelatex says that its technology, which is used to grow sustainable meat, will allow a wide range of people to access cultured meat thanks to the cost reductions that its technological advancements will bring to the process.

The techniques being developed by the company, which it claims are 90% cheaper than its competitors, rely on using a nanofibrous material for scaffolding on which cultured meat is grown.

This scaffolding provides a structure that gives stability to cells that have been cultured from animals. It is essential that meat grown in this manner is given a structure so that the final product is appetisingly solid, as consumers naturally expect, instead of just being a protein-rich goo.

With the investment the start-up hopes to increase its production capacity and thus decrease the cost of the nanofibrous materials and thus also the cost of producing cultured meats.