Cellmeat raises ₩5 billion in pre-Series A funding

CellMEAT, which is developing cultivated meat production technology based on cell culture, announced on the 26th that it had raised ₩5 billion in a pre-Series A funding round.

The round, led by NOW IB Capital, included BNK Venture Investment, DT&Investment, YK PSG Asset Management, Chonnam National University Technology Holdings, Yonsei University Technology Holdings, and U.S.-based Knollwood Investment Advisory. Existing investors Strong Ventures, Primer Sazze and Primer also invested again. U.S.-based Knollwood Investment Advisory participated, as did existing investors Strong Ventures, Primer Sazze and Primer.

CellMEAT has core technologies in cell culture, which is essential for cultivated meat production, and in developing cost-effective cell culture media. It is also advancing its engineering technology to reproduce the distinctive physical texture of different cuts of meat. With the funds raised, CellMEAT plans to continue research to reduce production costs while stepping up technology development for mass production.

CellMEAT, which operates research and development (R&D) centers at Chonnam National University and Seoul’s Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, is a startup founded in 2019 by Ph.D.s in life sciences and engineering specializing in stem cells, proteins and mechanical engineering.

Lee Hyeong-guk, executive director at NOW IB Capital, which led the round, said, “Cultivated meat production technology is essential to improving the global environment. Our analysis found that, with cultivated meat technology development in the United States and other countries about five to six years ahead, Korea needs to secure core technologies to safeguard its future food sovereignty. In this context, we decided without hesitation to invest in CellMEAT, which has technology capable of competing globally.”

CellMEAT CEO Park Gil-jun said, “Producing cultivated meat that is economically viable requires technologies to grow cells at low cost and to give the meat its natural physical texture. CellMEAT aims to produce whole cuts of meat. Its technologies, which are essential for cultivated meat production, are globally competitive, and we want to use them to make cultivated meat production a reality in Korea.”

CellMEAT was selected in 2019 for the TIPS program, a private investment-led initiative supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, in recognition of its potential to develop cultivated meat production technology by combining advanced life sciences and engineering.