Mewery, a Czech biotech developing cultivated pork using microalgae, has been awarded a non-dilutive grant of almost €200,000 by the Czech government through the CzechInvest Technological Incubator.
“The CzechInvest’s investment is a significant endorsement of Mewery’s innovative approach to cultivated meat”
With the funds, Mewery will conduct comprehensive studies to improve the efficiency of its platform as it prepares to scale up. According to the announcement, the studies will focus on cell characterization, exploring the metabolites involved in their growth, and analyzing gene expression patterns (transcriptomics) to gain insights into cellular processes and interactions.
“The CzechInvest’s investment is a significant endorsement of Mewery’s innovative approach to cultivated meat. This knowledge will be essential for designing a near-future scalable production process that is efficient, cost-effective, and meets the highest quality standards,” shares Roman Lauš, Founder and CEO of Mewery.
Slaughter-free pork
Headquartered in Brno and launched by Roman Lauš in 2022, Mewery is the first European food tech to develop cultivated pork using growth factors made from microalgae.
According to the food tech, its growth media stimulates mammalian cell growth, allowing it to eliminate the controversial fetal bovine serum from its platform. The new free serum enhances performance and reduces production costs by 70%, leading to lower prices for cultivated meat.
Mewery says that 1.5 billion pigs are slaughtered annually globally — 48 pigs killed every second. As a result, the pig industry contributes 14.5% of all emissions, surpassing the emissions produced by the entire transportation sector. “Our goal is to try to reduce these numbers dramatically,” states Lauš.
As a proof of concept of its pioneering growth media, Mewery developed a pork and microalgae prototype. Moreover, last year, the company unveiled the “first-ever” cultivated burger made with pork and microalgae cells using its bio-hybrid culture system. Mewery’s innovative approach has received backing from US accelerator Big Idea Ventures and angel investors.
With the grant from the Czech government, Mewery will also collect the required data to obtain safety approval from authorities in the future, including data on the nutritional composition of the biomass and the production process’s components.
Mewery has previously announced that it is preparing to seek approval for its unique pork products fortified with microalgae in the US and Singapore markets within the next two years.
“We are grateful to the CzechInvest for their support. With their backing, we are confident that Mewery can make significant contributions to the cultivated meat industry and provide consumers with a sustainable, ethical, and healthier alternative to conventional pork and beyond.”
CzechInvest supports and assists businesses and investments to position the Czech Republic as a European leader in innovation. Its goal is to connect global trends with the different regions of the country.
