Mirai Foods secures funds for cultivated meat

Founded only a year ago, the startup Mirai Foods has raised US$2.4 million in a first tranche of seed financing. The seven backers in the round included the Paulig Group, a food and beverage company based in Helsinki, and Berlin technology investor Team Europe. Mirai Foods claims to be the only clean meat startup in Switzerland. 

“We are proud to have such a strong and diverse pool of investors aboard for this journey,” said CEO and co-founder Christoph Mayr in a press release. “Paulig Group, with their extensive experience in the food industry, is an ideal partner for product development and distribution. Team Europe has a super strong track record in building and supporting global players.” Like Mirai Foods, they “want to reach customers as soon as possible” with their cultivated meat.

Mirai Foods boasts that it uses only real cells to grow pure meat that is “environmentally, ethically and economically sustainable”. This means they do “not rely on genetic or chemical manipulation of cells”. Mirai is “a second-generation player in this field,” explained Marika King, Head of Paulig’s venture arm PINC. “It only took them six months to develop the first prototype.”

Lukasz Gadowski, founder and CEO of Team Europe, is confident that his company and Mirai are “100 percent mission aligned”, as “both organizations believe in using technology to create a better world. We are excited to support the team in their quest to accelerate the advent of a food system that is sustainable, healthy, and ethical”.