CULT Food Science Corp said it has secured office space in Toronto to further develop an incubation studio as well as a project development hub aimed at advancing its role as a leader in the cell-based and alternative food space in Canada.
The company also announced the appointment of Dr Kantha Shelke to its advisory board as a complementary addition to its existing members.
“We are excited to embark on this new adventure and work to develop a space to incubate ideas and transform them into valuable intellectual property and commercial opportunities in the cellular agriculture field,” said CULT CEO Lejjy Gafour in a statement.
READ: CULT Food Science says CEO Lejjy Gafour to serve on Canada’s Food Supply Council
“We all believe that creating a strong, collaborative environment for CULT to engage with other cellular agriculture-focused companies could really make a difference to help alleviate the world’s challenged food supply chain,” he added.
Located within a commercial locale in Riverdale, the new office will support CULT’s current portfolio of investments and future projects, and is being planned to house equipment for work on alternative proteins, including cell culture, bioprocess engineering and product development.
On its newly-appointed advisor, CULT noted Shelke is a certified food scientist and a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists. She also teaches food safety regulations at Johns Hopkins University and is the founder and principal at Corvus Blue LLC, a Chicago-based food science and research firm.
“We are happy to welcome Dr. Kantha Shelke to the company’s advisory board. We are encouraged about Dr Shelke making a positive impact on our group,” added Gafour.
As consideration for her appointment, CULT has granted Shelke 50,000 options to purchase up to 50,000 common shares of the company, at a price of $0.255 per common share for a period of five years from the date of grant. Twenty five percent of the options vest three months from the date of grant, with the remaining 75% vesting in tranches of equal size three, six and nine months thereafter.
CULT is an innovative investment platform with an exclusive focus on cellular agriculture that is advancing the development of novel technologies to provide a sustainable, environmental, and ethical solution to the global factory farming and aquaculture crises.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com