Winners of the EIT Food and the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe's Cultivated Meat Innovation Challenge, 3D Bio Tissue (3DBT), BioBetter, and LenioBio received a total of EUR 1.8 million (~USD 1.9 million) to develop affordable and ethical alternatives to fetal bovine serum (FBS).

The funding will support the companies in their research efforts to create cost-effective cell-cultured meat for cultivated meat production, with a focus on enhancing cell growth and yields. Over the next two years, they will also conduct market testing to bring their innovations to the European market. 

AnalystQuickTake: FBS, as a growth medium in cultured meat production, is associated with high costs, ethical concerns, contamination risks, and inconsistent supply. Companies across the globe are developing or have developed FBS alternatives to overcome the aforementioned issues. A few noteworthy mentions in this space include Omeat , Believer Meats , BioBetter , Mewery Meat , and Mermade .