Australian cultured meat startup Vow Foods, producer of traditional meats as well as more obscure meats like kangaroo, alpaca and water buffalo, recently announced the closing of an oversubscribed $6 million seed, to further research and develop its cultured meat products to surpass conventional meat in quality and taste.
Vow Foods, as we reported in September, was founded in 2019 in Sydney, with a focus not only on more unusual species but also on a more ethical production without animal suffering. Its vision is to create new meat options that are intended to be healthier than conventional meat products.
In 2019, Vow unveiled the world’s first cultured kangaroo meat, becoming the first company in the world to grow a food product from the cells of a non-domesticated animal. Since then, Vow has expanded its portfolio to include 11 different species, specializing primarily in exotic animal meats.
With the upcoming completion of its state-of-the-art food design studio and laboratory in Sydney, Vow is positioning itself as the best company to work for in the cultured meat industry. New employees from top universities, the high-tech industry and even other cultured meat startups are joining Vow. As a result, the young company has grown its team from five to 22 in less than a year.
“We’ve had a strong focus on culture and individual personal development, and this has been one of the best investments we’ve ever made,” says Dr. James Ryall, Vow’s chief scientific officer.
“There is no doubt that cultured meat will soon be available and mainstream everywhere, as was evident earlier this month with the world’s first cultured meat product approved for sale in Singapore,” said George Peppou, co-founder and chief executive officer of Vow. “It’s about so much more than an alternative to animal agriculture, it’s about a product category that is completely different and better than what animals can produce.”
The current seed round was led by Square Peg Capital. Also participating in the round were existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Grok Ventures (the investment office of Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes), as well as new investor Tenacious Ventures. This round also brings Square Peg’s James Tynan to Vow’s board.
“In Vow, we’ve found a team that has a bold vision for the future of food. They are tackling one of the biggest problems on the planet and have achieved better results with less than 1 percent of the resource consumption of their competitors,” commented Tynan. “We are thrilled to be able to help them achieve that vision.”
