Investors are having second thoughts about supporting lab meat startups.
It has been reported that one of the world's largest expansion of product production has been shut down on investor concerns that it won't be viable. The company, Upside Foods, is retreating to its existing facilities and will remain a niche producer in the foreseeable future.
They are not the first to pull back or struggle to attract investor interest.
And early adopter, listed Beyond Meat is struggling too, with their share price down more than -50% over the past year. And their travails don't help others starting up.
In fact, American venture capital funding for the sector dropped to US$177 mln last year, down from US$807 mln in 2022.
“You can’t fault investors for being more cautious in this environment; there’s no playbook for what we’re doing,” said the head of another lab meat startup that shut down in 2023.
If lab meat businesses can't get established in the US, it is doubtful there will be enough patient capital support anywhere else to build the industry.
Behind this is growing scepticism about consumer adoption levels. Initial research about potential consumer attitudes was encouraging but subsequent rollouts haven't proven the same level of demand. And combined with unexpected production and distribution costs, investor enthusiasm is waning.
11 Comments
Its early days but certainly has enormous environmental pluses . Israel war probably not helping Aleph Farms currently . The alternative of raising stock in high rise builds ? Looking forward the traditional is not sustainable with population growth , plants are capable of more protein per acre. Not all lab meat is plant based either. Only a matter of time...
Look for electric cars to go the same way. They have the same story. Like lab meat to proper meat, lab meat is more expensive, less tasty and probably not good for you either. Electric cars are more expensive, don't go as far, and take ages to refuel, and are a fire risk. So, they have similar problems to what is mainstream. Electric car companies are already going bust, look for that to continue as people realize the issues they have and how sustainable they actually are.
I believe your EV facts are outdated - come 2025 and a Corolla beating, cheaper EV rolls out - Game overman - to quote the film. Moving on - frankly the bigger story for NZ inc in synthetic protein is lab produced milk. From what I understand this is produced in a brewing like process (think beer) using bacteria that produces A2 milk (with cow DNA) . There is a massive factory being setup in Denmark
"unexpected production and distribution costs, "
Anyone with half a brain saw this.
You do not get high energy high nutrient value food from low cost inputs.
Of course they could have asked any farmer, but no doubt they're run by highly educated people who couldn't learn from simple farmers.
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