Cultivated meat start-up Gourmey secures $10m in financing

French cultivated poultry company Gourmey has raised $10 million in a seed financing round to scale up its production capabilities.

Based in Paris, Gourmey produces ‘restaurant-grade’ meats from animal cells. The company claims that its cultivated poultry offerings – which include foie gras – have a significantly reduced environmental impact compared with conventionally farmed meats.

Gourmey’s oversubscribed seed round was co-led by Point Nine and Air Street Capital, with participation from Heartcore Capital and Partech.

Other investors in the round included Big Idea Ventures, Eutopia, Ataraxia and Beyond Investing, as well as angel investors, and public institutions including Bpifrance and the European Commission.

Gourmey will use the new funds to scale up its production capabilities as it prepares for global commercialisation. The company says that it is currently working with regulatory agencies on its plans for market entry late next year or in early 2023.

Gourmey CEO Nicolas Morin-Forest said: “Our mission is to reimagine meat for our uncompromising and conscious generation so that we have a chance to feed 10 billion people without devastating our environment. Poultry is the most consumed and fastest growing meat on the planet, so it is an obvious choice to maximise our impact.”

He continued: “We focus on cultivated meats that we can deliver at price and taste parity faster, which is the main challenge for the industry. Foie gras, the single most premium and decadent poultry meat on the planet with a $2 billion market, is our flagship product. Other premium duck, chicken and turkey meats from the finest breeds are coming next.”

Christoph Janz, managing partner at Point Nine, said: “Cultivated meat is one of the most promising solutions to deliver energy-efficient, sustainable proteins to the world. However, taste parity will remain the key success factor. We have been truly impressed by Gourmey’s delicious products and the company’s ability to progress both on the science and the flavour at record speed.”

Andrew Ive, general managing partner at Big Idea Ventures, added: “We love Gourmey’s initial focus on culinary arts and premium meats as chef adoption will be critical to the success of cultivated meat.”