Cultivated Meat Consortium in Israel Begins Operations with Government Grant
In recent news, the Innovation Authority from the State of Israel has provided a grant of $18 million to what it believes is the largest consortium in the world, where cultivated meat development is concerned. The consortium consists of 14 companies, which includes the most influential food tech startups, as well as 10 research institutions and universities. It has been announced that the co-leader of the consortium will be Gaya Savyon, who is a grantee of a nonprofit organization in the Jewish state, the Good Food Institute Israel. The organization seeks to promote innovation and research in food tech. Gaya Savyon will be joined by Tnuva, the Israeli food manufacturing giant. It launched its cultured meat venture just recently and is one of the 14 companies on the list.
The funding provided will be for as long as three years, as revealed by the Israel Innovation Authority. Moreover, the authority made an announcement that it will be establishing the cultivated meat consortium in the month of October. It will be joined by three additional consortiums for the purpose of insect farming, human-robot interface (HRI), and fluid sampling for medical diagnosis. This is a multidisciplinary field that studies interactions occurring between robots and humans. Moreover, Tnuva will be joined by 13 other firms, which are an integral part of the consortium. These include a cultivated meat startup based in Rehovot that has managed to raise over $110 million through funding rounds.
In addition, it recently opened up a new facility for production right before its commercial launch. Super Meat will also be coming on board, which grows poultry and beef cells. BioBetter made an announcement too that it will be a part of the consortium, as a developer of a biologic drug purification and protein manufacturing platform, along with Biological Industries, a biotechnology and chemicals multinational headquartered in the Jewish state. BioDalia, a producer of fermentation-based and biopesticide products also announced that it will be getting on board with the consortium. Seevix Material Sciences, a biotech firm based in Jerusalem, which produced synthetic spider silk fibers will be joining forces with the rest.
The academic institutions that have joined hands are Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, the Volcani Center, an Agricultural Research Organization, and the Reichman University. In the last couple of years, Israel has become an important tech hub, which is known for cultured meat. It is an important sub-sector operating in the alternative protein market, comprising of plant-based substitutes for dairy, egg, and meat, as well as seafood, and cultured diary. It further consists of insect proteins and processes and products of fermentation.
In the year 2021, the alternative protein sector in the Jewish state grew by around 450%, as compared to the previous year. Israeli startups operating in the field at the time raised around $623 million as investments, which was revealed in a recent report published by the Good Food Institute Israel.
