September 12, 2019

By Lynda Kiernan

CPT Capital has led a $6 million Seed Round for Redefine Meat, an Israeli startup developing a revolutionary 3-D alternative meat printer. Also participating in this round were Hanaco Ventures, some of Israel’s top unnamed angel investors, and The PHW Group, Germany’s largest poultry company and investor in a range of alternative protein startups including, Bugfoundation, Beyond Meat, and plant-based seafood company Good Catch. 

As part of the round, Costa Yiannoulis, director with CPT Capital, will join the Redefine Meat Board.

Redefine Meat was founded last year, driven by concerns over the ability for the animal meat industry to be able to meet the demand of growing populations, its lack of sustainability, and animal welfare concerns.

The startup combines a proprietary semi-industrial 3D digital printing platform, which is one of the fastest of its kind in the world, a 3D meat modeling system, and plant-based food formulations to deliver a new category of complex matrix “meat” that is effective, scalable, and delicious.

Through its technology platform, Redefine Meat aims to deliver products that are indistinguishable from high-quality animal meat, and in the process, establish a highly-productive, flexible, and novel modern-day supply chain that is significantly more sustainable than animal farming and meat processing.

“Our goal is not just to develop a new food product, but to introduce a new technology for developing, producing and scaling alt-meat products,” said Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, co-founder and CEO, Redefine Meat.

“We have already successfully printed great products for multiple foodie events, and over the coming 12 months, we will take the technology to the next level where we expect to make a huge impact on the meat market and the future of our planet.”

The 3D printing platform uses additive manufacturing, creating formulations made of plant-based natural ingredients (three plant-based proteins, fat, and water) that emulate the range of characteristics of steaks, stew meat, and roasts, with an environmental footprint that is 95 percent smaller than animal meat. This system allows industry buyers to rely on products that are predictable and replicable, and to configure custom orders that can align with regional or seasonal preferences.

“There is currently no other company that has demonstrated such an impressive development in the field of 3D printed meat,” said Peter Wesjohann, CEO, PHW Group. “The PHW Group sees Redefine Meat as a strategic investment, especially regarding the future product development for the European market and our broad distribution network.”

Although at the very cutting edge of alternative protein production, Redefine Meat is not the only startup currently pursuing this type of 3D technology in food production. Novameat, a Spain-based startup, that only days ago announced it has raised an undisclosed sum from New Crop Capital, has also been making headway, and has successfully created 3D printed steak and chicken alternatives with the same consistency, nutritional profile, and taste as their animal counterparts. 

“If we continue with the current system, in the future there will be little chance of having the resources to distribute food to everyone,” Giuseppe Scionti, bioengineer with Novameat, told de zeen in November 2018.

“It is for these reasons that finding another way of producing healthy and economical food that contains all the fundamental nutrients will help us to better manage our planet’s food resources.”

The capital gained through this Seed Round will be used by Redefine Meat to finalize the development of its alternative 3D printer, which is expected to be released in 2020.

“We are excited to partner with a company that leverages decades of digital printing experience to offer a fresh look at the way that meat will be produced,” said Costa Yiannoulis, director, CPT Capital. “From very early on, it was clear that their unique approach has tremendous merits and has already produced some of the highest quality alternative meat products that we have ever encountered.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.