IntegriCulture raises funds to commercialise cell-cultured products

Japan-based IntegriCulture has secured financing in a Series A funding round to commercialise its cell-cultured food and cosmetics products.

The investment round was led by Beyond Next Ventures and joined by other investors, including NH Foods, Real Tech Fund, AgFunder, Hiroshima Venture Capital VU Venture Partners and other investors.

Established in 2015 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, IntegriCulture has been developing cell-cultured meat, food, cosmetics and functional compounds.

IntegriCulture CEO Yuki Hanyu said: “The funds will be used to build accessible cellular agriculture to make 2021 the Year One of democratized cellular agriculture.”

IntegriCulture raised JPY800m ($7.4m) in the funding round, which will be used towards the research and development of cell culture technology, facility investment, new equipment and staffing, as well as cover operational costs.

The funds will be used by the company to construct a manufacturing site this year for producing cell-based foie gras, which will be launched by the company next year.

Additionally, the company intends to use the capital for launching its cosmetic products that will be based on cultured serum and find new ways for cell-cultured non-food products such as leather and fur.

AgFunder founding partner Rob Leclerc said: “I don’t think anyone else on the planet has given more thought to how to solve the problems of cultivated meat than Yuki.

“Bringing down the cost of cell culture media is the central challenge for all cultivated meat companies and IntegriCulture has the most elegant solution we’ve seen to solve this problem.”

With the latest funding, the company is said to have raised a total capital of nearly JPY1.1bn ($10.2m).