Eat Just, Inc., a producer of sustainable protein alternatives, has secured $170 million in funding to scale up Good Meat, its cell-based subsidiary. According to Eat Just, the enormous funding managed by UBS O’Connor, a hedge fund manager within UBS Asset Management, Graphene Ventures, K3 Ventures and others, will be invested to increase capacity and accelerate research and development of Good Meat’s cultured meat products.
Eat Just had also secured a $200 million funding in March this year led by the Qatar Investment Authority.
By applying innovative technological solutions, Eat Just has managed to create healthier and more sustainable food alternatives, and its cell-based division Good Meat has become the world’s first to commercialise meat produced by animal cells instead of slaughtered livestock.
By securing the first-in-the-world regulatory approval, Good Meat is now focused on expanding its team, technology and manufacturing infrastructure to fulfil the demands in the fast-growing sector. With multi-million dollar investments, the company is eager to expand its scale of production in North America and Asia as well.
“This investment, along with the historic decision by JW Marriott Singapore South Beach, points to what’s ahead: meat without killing animals will replace conventional meat at some point in our lifetimes. The faster we make that happen, the healthier our planet will be,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.
The company also announced that its cultured chicken will be sold in the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach’s Cantonese restaurant Madame Fan beginning May 20. With this, JW Marriott Singapore South Beach’s renowned Cantonese restaurant becomes the first restaurant in the world to replace conventional meat with cultured meat during set times.
Good Meat will replace the conventional chicken in the chef-inspired dishes including Asian-inspired chicken salad with sesame mirin vinaigrette, steamed chicken dumplings and chicken vegetable stir-fry. “As part of a global organization aimed to cut food wastage, partnering with a purposeful company such as GOOD Meat was the perfect collaboration to support our ‘Source Responsibly’ efforts whilst we continue to deliver exceptional culinary experiences,” Marco Pedrelli, Director of Food & Beverage and Culinary, JW Marriott Singapore South Beach.
