Believer Meats

Based in Israel, Believer Meats (Future Meat Technologies prior to November 2022) develops hardware and cell lines for the manufacturing of cell-cultured meat, to commercialize its manufacturing hardware and techniques.

Believer Meats uses fibroblast cells that can be triggered with small molecules to develop either fat or muscle cells. Fat and muscle cells are cultured in a unique bioreactor that removes the waste material from the media, allowing the company to recycle parts of the media to reduce feed media input by as much as 50%. The startup replaced FBS with molecules derived from Chinese hamster ovaries (CHO) to reduce production costs and plans to achieve price parity with animal counterparts. 

In August 2022, the company announced it has developed what it claims to be the world’s first cultivated lamb, using cell lines isolated from Awassi sheep.

In December 2022, the company announced it has begun development of a 200,000 sq foot production facility in Wilson, North Carolina with an annual capacity of ~22 million lbs, which is claimed to be the largest cultivation facility in the world. Believer Meats plans to produce cultured chicken, pork, beef, and lamb for US, European, and Asian markets.

Key customers and partnerships

In March 2022, the company partnered with Charoen Pokphand Foods to develop cultivated meat products for Asia. 

Funding and financials

In its latest funding round in December 2021, the company raised USD 347 million in Series B funding, recording the largest investment in cell-cultured meat at the time. The round was co-led by ADM Ventures, while funds were to be used to accelerate its production plans in the US.