CULT Food Science Corp announced that it has completed a strategic investment in Singapore-based Umami Meats.
An XPRIZE semi-finalist, CULT said Umami is focused on deploying its proprietary technology to reduce the product development costs of cell-based growth serum, which is currently one of the major challenges and bottlenecks in the commercialization and consumer adoption of cell-cultured seafood and represents over 80% of total current production costs.
With the cell-based seafood market projected to reach $17.3 billion by 2031, Umami is working to position itself as the leading technology platform for making cell-based seafood more affordable to produce at commercial scale and more accessible for the mass market.
Umami's initial focus will be on developing efficient approaches for the cell-based production of Japanese Eel, Yellowfin Tuna, and Red Snapper. Its future pipeline includes Halibut, Grouper, and Mahi-Mahi.
READ: CULT Food Science creates global cellular agriculture advisory board
CULT noted that according to the OECD, the contribution of the ocean economy to the global economy is estimated to be US$1.5 trillion annually.
The company said it views its capital deployments into the cultured seafood industry, especially those focused on high-value seafoods, as a pillar of its investment thesis due to its high expectation for generating above-average returns.
"We are excited to have CULT Food Science backing our vision for a sustainable seafood future, enabled by our cultivated fish production technology. With their strong industry knowledge and network of advisors, we believe this investment will help accelerate our development timeline and path to scale," said Mihir Pershad, CEO of Umami, in a statement.
CULT CFO Francis Rowe added: "We are pleased to invest in Umami Meats as we believe cultivated seafood represents a largely misunderstood opportunity. We believe that their novel technology and intellectual property will be enormously valuable as cell-based seafood grows and we look forward to helping accelerate their scientific development.”
Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham