Key Takeaways

• Multus is the UK based startup creating key ingredients for the affordable scaleup of cellular agriculture.

• We are excited to announce the close of a USD$9.5m Series A investment round. The funding includes an equity free grant of USD$2.5M from Innovate UK through Europe’s most competitive startup grant, the EIC Accelerator.

• The round was led by Mandi Ventures, with key investors including SOSV, Big Idea Ventures, SynBioVen and Asahi Kasei Corp. 

• The funding allows Multus to build a world-first production plant in the UK to accelerate the cultivated meat industry towards price parity with affordable food-safe growth media at commercial scale.

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Who are Multus Biotechnology and how do we enable the affordable scale-up of cultivated meat?

Multus is at the forefront of the sustainable protein transition, pioneering the design and production of novel growth media formulations and ingredients for the affordable scale up of cellular agriculture.

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We combine data science and automation to screen its library of non-conventional growth media ingredients to unlock affordable, high-performance growth media formulations that scale.

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Our work enables a genuinely sustainable alternative to intensive animal farming which continues to erode biodiversity, monopolise arable land, and emit high levels of greenhouse gases.

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Multus growth media formulations and ingredients are the building blocks of cellular agriculture and enable the affordable at-scale production of real animal products, including meat, dairy, leather, and more, using cells instead of animals.

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Who are the investors and what were the details of the funding round?

The round is led by Mandi Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on accelerating the adoption of disruptive technologies in the food and agriculture industries.

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Other investors include SOSV, Big Idea Ventures and SynBioVen, alongside Asahi Kasei, a global company that contributes to a sustainable society by tackling evolving challenges in materials, homes and healthcare.

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An equity-free grant of £2.15M (USD$2.5M) from Innovate UK through the EIC Accelerator also makes up the Series A round. 

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With a success rate of less than 4%, the EIC Accelerator is the most competitive start-up grant in Europe, a huge win for scaling cultivated meat.

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Julio Benetti, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Mandi Ventures commented:

“Multus’ technology has the potential to revolutionise the cultivated meat industry by significantly reducing production costs and accelerating the commercial scale-up of the sector, benefiting cultivated meat producers, consumers and the environment.”

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What’s next for Multus and cultivated meat? 

The funding will allow Multus to build a world-first production plant in the UK to accelerate the cultivated meat industry towards price parity with affordable food-safe growth media at commercial scale.

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It will also accelerate product development in advanced growth media formulations and food-grade raw materials.

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It follows a USD$2.2M raise in 2021 and the launch of our first product Proliferum® M, an all-in-one solution to eliminate the use of foetal bovine serum (FBS) in cell culture. Proliferum® M is demonstrated to grow muscle, fat, and connective tissue cells from mammals, birds, and seafood.

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We recently achieved ISO22000 certification for food-safe manufacturing of growth media formulations and ingredients, a significant milestone on the company's journey to producing food-safe growth media.

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Commenting on the funding round, Multus CEO Cai Linton said,

"We are excited to use this funding to drive innovation in novel ingredient discovery, intelligent formulation design and food safe growth media production for the affordable scale-up of the cellular agriculture industry."

"We are confident that our unique approach to growth media will play a key role in making cultivated meat a sustainable and affordable choice for all."

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Click here to learn more about our work enabling the affordable scale-up of cultivated meat.

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