Sydney based Vowa cultured meat company, has raised $49.2 million in Series A funding.
The raise was led by Blackbird & Prosperity 7, an Australasian investment firm, with strong backing from Toyota Ventures, Square Peg, Grok, Cavalio, Peakbridge, Tenacious Ventures, HostPlus Super LP, NGS Super and Pavilion Capital. It is a record for Series A salaries in the cultured meat industry.
The company is working on a solution to replace livestock farming with a more sustainable way of food production. As Australia’s first cell-based meat company, Vow’s goal is to create sustainable, plentiful and delicious food for people in every corner of the world.
The first product developed by Vow will soon be available for tasting in local restaurants and the company has built one of the largest cultured meat facilities in the world.
“When Vow was founded, we knew that to change the way billions eat, we had to do more than recreate what we know,” said Vow CEO and co-founder George Peppou.
“By inventing new types of meat that are tastier and more nutritious and fulfill functions that traditional meat cannot, we can have a huge impact. We are thrilled to be face-to-face with the best companies in this space, moving at high speed to achieve massive milestones with a fraction of the capital of other companies.”
The funding marks a major milestone for Vow as it expands its manufacturing facilities with the construction of Factory 2 and introduces its first product brand, bite in Singapore this year. This funding will be used for future product development, production expansion and the acquisition of new divisions as Vow expands its business and works to disrupt the food industry, planting the seeds for future growth in markets around the world.
Blackbird and Prosperity7 Ventures, Aramco Ventures’ diversified growth fund, co-led the Series A with strong support from Toyota Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Grok Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, Peakbridge, Tenacious Ventures, HostPlus Super, NGS Super and Pavilion Capital.
“Vow represents the pinnacle of ambition – using robotics, data and biology – to create tastier food than we do today,” says Blackbird partner Samantha Wong.
“Having known the founders before the company, we are incredibly impressed with the speed of progress and the quality of hires over the years. We are proud to lead Vow’s Series A round and help unlock the next phase of growth that will transform the food industry as we know it.”
Vow welcomes Blackbird and Square Peg back from their pre-seed and seed round, and is excited to expand its pool of investors eager to join the brand’s vision to revolutionize the sustainable food space, enabling healthier options and the consumer’s perspective on the viability of cultured meat as a disruptor in the food industry.
“Food security is one of the most important problems for humanity to solve, and cell cultured meat will be a critical development in the solution, making Vow an excellent fit with Prosperity7’s core mandate,” said Aysar Tayeb, Executive Managing Director for Prosperity7 Ventures.
“Every choice Vow has made in its approach is thoughtfully aimed at accelerating the adoption and commercialization of cell-cultured proteins, including the deep application of technology and expanding the box to include thousands of cell lines to optimize taste, nutrition, and cell growth and accelerate costs. down. We are thrilled to be part of Vow’s pioneering journey to transform the way food is made.”
“As consumers move to meats that suit their nutritional, sensory and taste preferences, we see Vow’s cultured meat unlocking the next generation of alternative proteins,” said Jim Adler, founder and general manager of Toyota Ventures.
“Vow has the potential to meet the food demand of a growing global population while reducing the impact of food production on the environment. We are so excited to join the Vow team in their mission to make sustainable food both irresistible and available to billions of people around the world.”
