REHOVOT, ISRAEL — Aleph Farms, Ltd., a cultivated meat company growing steaks directly from animal cells, raised $105 million in a Series B funding round led by L Catterton and DisruptAD.
Skyviews Life Science and a consortium of food and meat companies including Thai Union, BRF and CJ CheilJedang also participated in the round, along with existing investors VisVires New Protein, Strauss Group, Cargill, Peregrine Ventures and CPT Capital. The Series B round brings Aleph Farms’ total funding to more than $118 million.
The company will use the funds to execute its plans for large scale global commercialization of cultivated beef steaks. Near-term milestones include scaling up manufacturing, growing operations internationally and expanding product lines and technology ahead of an initial market launch in 2022. The Israeli startup currently is working with regulatory agencies on its plans for market entry.
The investment from DisruptAD, one of the largest venture platforms in the Middle East, will help bolster Abu Dhabi's focus on food resilience, said Didier Toubia, co-founder and chief executive officer of Aleph Farms. As a strategic partner to DisruptAD, the company will evaluate the establishment of a manufacturing facility in the city to supply its cultivated products across the United Arab Emirates and the broader Gulf Coast Council region.
“We see our investors as partners for building this new category of meat,” Mr. Toubia said. “It was critical to us that they share our strong commitment to improving the sustainability of our global food systems.”