Biotech startup TurtleTree Labs, has announced a pre-seed round to create real milk from animal cells, with no animals required. The investment round, led by Lever VC and with participation from vegan Prince Khaled’s KBW Ventures, will be used to acquire additional scientists and to create additional prototypes.
The Singapore-based company, co-founded by CEO Fengru Lin, CSO Rabail Toor, and Chief Strategist Max Rye, says it is the world’s first cell-based milk company using technology to create real milk from animal cells. TurtleTree says on its website that the team “is recreating real milk inside a lab using the latest cutting edge innovation in biotech. Our focus on execution will disrupt this multi-billion dollar industry while reducing the carbon footprint on this planet. Our innovation will provide millions access to safer, reliable and higher quality dairy products.”
Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, founder and Chief Executive Officer, KBW Ventures, said, “KBW Ventures’ interest in TurtleTree stems both from the team vision and the company’s strategic approach to the future of food using stem cell technology. Having spent time with the founding team in Singapore, we have a lot of confidence in TurtleTree’s progress as a biotech company and in the direction they are taking from a business perspective.”
