Dutch food tech startup Meatable has acquired UK-based Uncommon Bio’s cultivated meat platform and key staff, as the latter shifts focus to therapeutics.
As it works to secure regulatory approval in multiple markets, Dutch cultivated pork startup Meatable is expanding its future food portfolio with the acquisition of several critical assets from Uncommon Bio.
Meatable has taken over the UK firm’s cultivated meat platform, including key technology, several IP assets and high-performing cell lines, and expert staff. The move will allow the former to expand into new species and accelerate its regulatory and market launch efforts.
“The acquisition opens up exciting possibilities for diversification. Pork has always been our starting point, but this additional platform enables us to respond more flexibly to customer demand, whether that’s beef, chicken, or other species,” Meatable CTO Aris de Rijke told Green Queen.
Uncommon Bio, meanwhile, is spinning out to therapeutics in stealth mode, building on the non-GMO mRNA reprogramming and saRNA differentiation technologies it has developed. It is “focusing on changing medicine through multi-targeting”, it said on a job posting on its website.
Its “polysaccharide-based delivery platform enables multi-pathway cell programming, offering a safe, efficient and scalable alternative to multi-target therapies”, the startup added, noting that it was initially targeting severe lung diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
“We wanted to find the best home for our technology and it’s exciting to see Meatable carry our work forward and apply it at scale,” said Uncommon Bio CEO Benjamina Bollag. “I look forward to continuing our collaboration and watching their continued success and global impact in the years ahead.”
Meatable eyes new products like cultivated chicken and lamb
Meatable operates one of the fastest cell differentiation processes in the cultivated meat industry. Its Opti-ox technology uses pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), which – unlike immortalised cell lines that need to be altered to multiply indefinitely – have the natural ability to continue multiplying, and do so rapidly.
This is coupled with a perfusion process that enables a continuous cycle to generate very high cell densities and produce fully differentiated muscle and fat cells in just four days.
The acquisition of Uncommon Bio’s platform will allow Meatable to rapidly expand across species, markets, and consumer segments. “The main advantage of acquiring an additional technique lies in the added versatility it brings, enabling us to broaden product lines and work with more breeds,” said de Rijke.
He added that the major attraction was a diversification across possible GMO and non-GMO product lines – until now, Meatable only had the GMO option. “From our conversations with meat companies, it’s clear that speed to market is critical, and achieving this is often easier with a non-GMO product since it typically involves fewer regulatory hurdles,” he explained.
“While our core focus will remain on pork and beef, we are seeing growing demand for other species such as chicken and lamb, areas where Uncommon’s technology will be especially valuable.”
The acquisition further boosts Meatable’s IP portfolio with additional patents and proprietary assets. “The value of the IP is strengthened by the calibre of investors who have supported Uncommon’s mission from the start,” said de Rijke.
Uncommon Bio, formerly called Higher Steaks, raised $30M in Series A funding in 2023, bringing in investors like OpenAI founder Sam Altman, his brother Max, and film producer Sebastiano Castiglioni. “We’re proud to carry forward technology that has earned the trust of such respected backers… further fueling our path toward success at scale,” de Rijke noted.
Meatable CEO Jeff Tripician added: “By combining two highly complementary platforms, Meatable is now equipped to reliably deliver high-quality cultivated meat at a global scale. This enables us to support the meat industry with a stable, secure, and future-proof supply of species like pork, beef, lamb, and poultry, ensuring business continuity and resilience in the face of increasingly uncertain times.”
Uncommon Bio acquisition will fast-track regulatory approval for Meatable
In addition to the non-GMO status, Uncommon Bio’s “regulatory-ready dossier” was a big attraction for Meatable, paving the way for faster regulatory approval in multiple regions.
“We have ongoing, constructive conversations with regulators worldwide for our current process, but we recognise that approvals are often faster for non-GMO products,” said de Rijke. “Uncommon has already done impressive work compiling the necessary data for a regulatory dossier, and we look forward to finalising and submitting this in the coming months to accelerate our commercial rollout.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Green Queen last year, Tripician indicated the company planned to file dossiers in the six geographies, with Singapore its first market. The firm, which is building a large-scale facility in the city-state, was expecting approval here by Q1 2025. Though this has been delayed, its strategy is to use the approval as a proxy to get clearance in other countries, as a form of international cooperation for novel food authorisation.
“I see us moving with pretty good speed through 2025,” Tripician said in October. “At the end, I would be very disappointed in our team if we don’t have approval in five, six countries by this time or the end of next year.”
The company did not elaborate on its regulatory progress when asked by Green Queen; however, it acknowledged that it was essential before moving forward on its commercial plans. Tripician had noted how Meatable’s approach had shifted to becoming a supplier to the meat industry, which would use its cultivated ingredients in blended protein products: “They take raw material – meat – they turn it into food, and they sell it. We now provide them with some of the meat. Very simple.”
Expanding on this, de Rijke added: “We’ve been in discussions with forward-looking meat companies globally, including in Southeast Asia, the UK, and the Middle East. These partners are eager to establish reliable product lines in today’s volatile market while also making a positive impact on the planet.”
Having raised $95M to date, Meatable is looking to secure around $35M in a Series C raise. In February, it diversified beyond food through a partnership with fellow Dutch firm Pelagen, which specialises in cell-based leather. The two will work to enhance the production, efficiency and scalability of the material for use in a variety of industries, including fashion, automotive, and interiors.
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