Mosa Meat, a spin-off company from Maastricht University which was behind the world’s first hamburger made directly from cow cells in 2013, has raised €7.5 million to bring cultured meat to market by 2021. The Dutch food start-up first inspired the emergence of an entirely new industry through pioneering work and proving the concept of cultured meat five years ago and now Mosa Meat is developing its first commercial products. This marks the first investment in a European cultured meat company, putting Europe on the map for the next generation of meat production.

The round was co-led by M Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of science and technology company Merck, and Bell Food Group, a meat processor in Switzerland with operations across Europe. They are joined by mission-based investors, including the Glass Wall Syndicate.

Mosa Meat was co-founded by Professor Mark Post, a leading scientist in the field who created the first cultured hamburger in 2013 and early investors include Google’s, Sergey Brin. It develops cultured meat – that is, real meat grown from cells rather than raising and slaughtering an animal. The company wants to revolutionize the way we make meat so we can match soaring global demand for meat worldwide with production that is sustainable and better for the environment.

Mosa Meat will use the Series A funding to develop an end-to-end process for cultured meat production at significantly reduced cost. The funding also allows the company to prepare for the construction of a pilot production plant for the introduction of a premium product in 2021.

“We are delighted to join forces with M Ventures and Bell Food Group to create the future of meat,” says Mosa Meat CEO Peter Verstrate. “M Ventures brings strong experience in the early-stage financing of science-based companies like ours and has added tremendous value throughout the fundraising process, while Bell Food Group brings strong downstream capabilities in meat processing and distribution. We think this is a perfect collaboration.”
The rise of cultured meat has been a key discussion area for several years since the pioneering research from the University of Maastricht leading to the creation of the Mosa Meat in 2015, two years after the US$250,000 artificial meat hamburger was presented to the world.