• UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats), a food technology startup developing cell-cultured meat, has raised USD 400 million in a Series C funding round led by Temasek and Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADC). New investors including Givaudan, Baillie Gifford, John Doerr, and SALT Fund as well as existing investors like Bill Gates, Cargill, and CPT Capital also joined the round. Following the round, UPSIDE Foods was valued at USD 1 billion, achieving unicorn status.

• The funds will be earmarked for the construction of a new commercial-scale production facility that can produce “tens of millions of pounds” of cultivated meat per year as well as the commercialization of its products in the US, upon regulatory approval. The funds will also be used to build a supply chain for cell-feed components, expand its team, and increase R&D and consumer awareness efforts.

• UPSIDE Foods will initially focus on producing cultivated chicken at the facility, which is also capable of producing other meat types in both whole cuts and ground meat formats.

<ul><li>This is now the largest funding round in the cultivated meat industry to date, surpassing Future Meat’s USD 347 million Series B funding round in December last year.</ul>