Dog puppy food

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Pet Food

Friends & Family & Novel Farms to Launch Cultivated Meat Products for Pets by 2025

California’s Friends & Family Pet Food Co., a startup developing feed options with sustainable proteins, is collaborating with Novel Farms, a cell ag startup also based in California, to introduce cultivated meat products for dogs and cats. Reportedly, the companies are in the testing and prototyping stages, aiming for a product line launch in 2025, targeting the San Francisco Bay Area. The resulting pet food products will combine cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients, mirroring the approach used by cultivated meat companies. Friends & Family has also partnered with Singapore’s UMAMI Bioworks to create cultivated seafood treats for cats enriched with high-value microalgae and essential nutrients for healthier diets. Moving from factory-farmed animal protein Joshua Errett (CEO, formerly of Because, Animals), Jonny Cruz, and Sarah Dodd founded Friends …

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Novel Farms

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Investments & Finance

Novel Farms Receives $999,967 NSF Grant to Elevate Cultivated Meat Production

Novel Farms, Inc., a Berkeley-based food technology startup, has secured a significant Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Valued at $999,967 over two years, this grant recognizes Novel Farms’ contributions to the cultivated meat production field, particularly its proprietary scaffolding platform. The platform employs microbial fermentation and tissue engineering techniques and aims to revolutionize cultivated meat production by slashing production costs. Novel Farms claims its technology enables it to produce the marbling and texture of real muscle cuts combined with the ability to scale more efficiently than other cultivated meats due to its highly customizable scaffolds. Dr. Nieves Martinez Marshall, CEO of Novel Farms, commented, “We are proud to be rooted in fundamental research and are grateful …

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Novel Farms Cultivated Pork Loin

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Novel Farms Raises $1.4M in Pre-Seed Round for First Marbled Cultivated Pork Loin

Novel Farms, a food technology startup, announces a $1.4M pre-seed funding round and reveals it has created the world’s first marbled cultivated pork loin. According to the startup, its loin showcases the marbling and texture of a real muscle cut, making it one of the few cell-based meat companies to successfully create a structured meat prototype.  Founded in 2020 by Nieves Martinez Marshall, PhD and Michelle Lu, PhD, the company says its pork loin can scale more efficiently than other cultivated meats thanks to its edible and highly customizable scaffolds. Developed with Novel’s proprietary microbial fermentation, these lower-cost scaffolds provide a structure for the attachment of cultured meat cells, without the need for costlier biomaterials such as alginate, mycelium or cellulose. These newer scaffolds are …

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