Japan’s IntegriCulture Inc., a cellular agriculture specialist, has completed a Series A fundraising round of JPY800 million (USD7.4 million) backed by Beyond Next Ventures, NH Foods, and AgFunder, amongst others. The amount raised totals JPY1.1 billion (USD10.2 million).
IntegriCulture Becomes First to Cultivate Cells Without Animal Serum at 1/60th of Cost
IntegriCulture Inc. claims to have performed the first successful cultivation of chicken and duck liver-derived cells in an animal serum-free basal medium. Using the company’s proprietary CulNet system the cost has been estimated to be just 1/60th compared to when using a conventional animal serum. IntegriCulture claims to have successfully replaced all research-grade materials with food materials to achieve functional equivalence at such a reduced cost. The Japanese biotech also claims to be the first in the world to implement a cell culture with a serum-free basal medium. The CulNet system, which emulates natural inter-organ interactions, is key to recent developments. Animal serum, normally used as a medium to cultivate cells for meat, is prohibitively expensive and comes with its own ethical issues. The CulNet …
