Clever Carnivore has raised $7 million in seed round funding to expand and scale its operations.

© Clever Carnivore

Investments & Acquisitions

Clever Carnivore Secures $7M to Expand its “Astoundingly” Low-Cost Cultivated Pork Production

Chicago’s first cultivated meat company, Clever Carnivore, has raised $7 million in seed round funding to expand and scale its operations. The company has developed a platform to cultivate pork at low costs. Led by former Tyson Foods executive Russell Thomas, VP of product development, Clever Carnivore has created a prototype, the Clever Bratwurst, that it plans to unveil in early 2024. The biotech’s expansion plans include relocating its inaugural lab operations in Lincoln Park to a larger nearby facility with a 500 L bioreactor capacity and space for a test kitchen. “We’ve been tracking and investing across the global cultivated meat sector since the first such company launched eight years ago, and we haven’t seen anyone come remotely close to Clever Carnivore’s astoundingly low current …

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Russell Thomas, Clever Carnivore

© Clever Carnivore

Company News

Cultivated Meat Startup Clever Carnivore Hires Tyson Foods’ Russell Thomas

Clever Carnivore announces the hiring of Russell Thomas as VP of product development, to accelerate the development of its debut consumer product, the Clever Bratwurst. Clever Carnivore states that the hire propels the company into the prototype development stage, meaning its cost-competitive sausages, burgers, and chicken nuggets, will “will soon be a reality”. Upon its $2.1M raise last year, CEO Virginia Rangos said, “We’re hoping to eventually get — and we think this is quite practical — to a $1 burger, essentially,” adding, “We think we will have product prototype ready by the end of 2023.” The startup, Chicago’s first cultivated meat company, harnesses cell biology, recombinant protein technology, and advanced bioreactor design, with the objective of creating consumer products that compete on taste, price, …

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