British tissue engineering company BSF Enterprise, owner of Lab-Grown Leather and cultivated meat firm 3D Bio-Tissues, has secured £15M ($19.8M) in fresh funding.
To speed up the commercialisation of its cellular agriculture technologies, Newcastle-based BSF Enterprise has raised £15M ($19.8M) in an equity financing round.
The investment by Blackstone Mercantile Group is pursuant to a convertible loan note instrument and a warrant instrument in two phases, and will help the firm execute its growth strategy for its three subsidiaries.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, BSF Enterprise produces culture media supplements and cultured meat under 3D Bio-Tissues and Cultivated Meat Technologies, cell-based leather under Lab-Grown Leather, and corneal repair solutions under Kerato.
“We are hugely excited by the potential Blackstone Mercantile Group’s investment provides to BSF’s subsidiary companies,” said CEO Che Connon. “The funds will accelerate the commercial and technological roadmaps of Lab-Grown Leather, Kerato and 3D Bio-Tissues and will support their further independent fundraising activities during 2026.
Lab-Grown Leather to showcase cultivated T Rex material in 2026
Founded in 2018 by Geoff Baker, a lawyer, BSF Enterprise develops tissue engineering solutions for multiple sectors, including food, materials, and medtech. Its core tech platform enables the manufacturing of cell-cultured alternatives to animal and human tissues at scale.
Through 3D Bio-Tissues, the company creates scaffold-free structured tissues and media supplements across a range of animal species. And it uses these inputs to produce cost-competitive, high-protein cultured meat products under its Cultivated Meat Technologies label.
It also crafts leather from skin starter cells through Lab-Grown Leather. The product, called 3DBT Skin, replicates the properties of conventional leather without requiring scaffolds, which can interfere with the tanning process and affect the final performance.
In fact, a significant chunk of the new funds will support the expansion of BSF Enterprise’s cell-based leather tech. This includes the commercial launch of Elemental X, a platform that integrates bioengineered cellular structures for “cutting-edge leather applications”.
The firm will debut this platform at an event next year, partnering with branding firm VML and The Organoid Company to showcase a T Rex leather, incorporating uniquely defined dinosaur DNA.
Moreover, the capital will enable Lab-Grown Leather to introduce its first revenue-generating products to the ultra-luxury segment, as well as support direct sales to design-led partners. Additionally, the firm will deepen and expand commercial partnerships, strengthen its IP portfolio, and hire key talent.
BSF Enterprise eyes M&A deals
Some of the funding will help advance its corneal repair efforts with Keratos, as well as support the expansion of 3D Bio-Tissues’s food-safe culture media components.
That includes the promotion of CytoBoost Revive, a media additive that can help restore biological materials from low-temperature storage and improve cell revival post-cryostorage by up to 100%. This can support biopharma and biomedical research applications with enhanced cell viability and performance.
The funding will further help expand the sales and marketing of the existing City-Mix supplement and the rest of the CytoBoost range.
With its cellular agriculture prowess, BSF Enterprise is targeting two highly emissive industries in meat and leather. Livestock agriculture accounts for a fifth of all emissions, while leather production is an energy– and water-intensive process linked to deforestation and biodiversity loss.
The financing round is a testament to investors’ interest in cultivated leather, adding to recent fundraises by Paris-based Faircraft and Dutch startup Qorium. This is in contrast to the waning appetite for cultivated meat, which has suffered from a steep decline in funding over the last couple of years.
Both industries have seen a flurry of M&A activity, and BSF Enterprise recognises the potential here. It’s actively engaged in talks with target companies whose technologies are highly complementary to its existing portfolio, and views acquisitions and joint ventures as a key lever to speed up innovation, expand its technological portfolio, and enhance its commercial pipeline.
Some of the funds may be allocated to support these transactions and boost the commercialisation of next-gen bioengineered materials. “They provide the resources to allow BSF to deliver against its strategic goals to acquire, invest in, or enter joint ventures with promising complementary companies to expedite their development and time-to-market,” said Connon.
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