Omeat

Omeat is a California-based cell-cultured meat producer. In June 2023, the company emerged from stealth, having developed a patented process for cultivating meat using plasma and cows' cells. According to Omeat, this process does not involve GMOs, immortalized cells, engineered ingredients, antibiotics, or hormones and eliminates the need for growth factors such as fetal bovine serum (FBS). Moreover, it is claimed to significantly reduce production costs and enable scaled production to meet rising demand.

Omeat planned to launch cultivated ground beef as its first product. However, according to the company, its process can be used for other types of cultivated meat including pork, chicken, and fish. In August 2023, the company launched its B2B arm and began commercial sales of Plenty, an ethical FBS alternative. According to the company, Plenty has potential applications beyond cultivated meat, such as regenerative medicine and vaccine production.

In November 2023, Omeat completed the construction of a 15,000 sq ft pilot facility outside Los Angeles. The facility includes bioreactors of up to 10,000 liters and can produce 400 tons of product annually. The company expects this plant to provide insights for scaling production and observing quality, taste, and safety standards.

Funding and financials

In April 2022, the company raised USD 40 million in a Series A funding round with the participation of S2G Ventures, Google Ventures (GV), and Tyson Ventures, among others. The funding was earmarked for building a pilot plant, expanding the team, and obtaining regulatory approvals from the FDA and USDA.