Government fund pushes millions into cultured meat company Meatable

Cultured meat company Meatable has raised 30 million euros in new financing, the Delft company announced on Tuesday. Half of the amount came from Invest-NL, the investment fund for startups set up by the Dutch government. Meatable wants to use the new investment to reduce production costs in order to compete on price with animal meat.

The cultured meat producer also wants to use the money to scale up further and offer their meat substitutes to consumers more quickly. Meatable intends to have its cultured meat in supermarkets and restaurants in Singapore next year. If regulators approve, the company then hopes to enter other markets, like the United States. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has not yet done so.

“Cultured meat has the potential to offer an alternative with an impact on animal welfare, CO2 emission reduction, water use, land use, and reduction of antibiotics,” said Bastiaan Gielink of Invest-NL.

Cultured meat is made by multiplying animal cells. In this way, companies like Meatable want to make meat without environmental pollution and animal suffering. Meatable has already accelerated its pork production process from an animal cell to eight days instead of three weeks.

Last month, the Netherlands became the first country in the European Union to make it possible to taste cultured meat under certain conditions. On the other hand, the Italian government previously said it wanted to ban meat grown from animal cells. Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said such products would not guarantee "quality, well-being, and protection of our culture and tradition.”