Berkeley

Miyoko Schinner portrait

Miyoko Schinner, Image credit Megan Thompson
Society

Miyoko Schinner Becomes Co-Instructor at UC Berkeley’s Plant Futures Challenge Lab

UC Berkeley’s Plant Futures Challenge Lab has announced that pioneering plant-based entrepreneur Miyoko Schinner will join as a co-instructor for the upcoming fall semester. Launched in 2021 by then-students Brittany Sartor and Samantha Derrick, the Plant Futures Challenge Lab runs a course every spring and fall for undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students across various disciplines. The aim is to make connections between academia and the plant-based sector. In the coming semester, Schinner will teach alongside Sartor, who is the Program Director. Described as “a vital platform for the plant-based food and agricultural sector”, The Plant Futures Challenge Lab has partnerships with notable plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-based companies, including Beyond Meat, Daiya, Upside Foods, Meati, and Bond Pet Foods. Additionally, the initiative works with nonprofits such …

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California's Mission Barns has redesigned single-cell suspension bioreactors to make them fit for cultivating meat at scale.

© Mission Barns
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Mission Barns Revamps Single-Cell Suspension Pharma Bioreactors to Scale Cultivated Meat Production

Cultivated fat startup Mission Barns has engineered a new bioreactor to optimize cultivated meat production, aiming to replace the single-cell suspension bioreactors traditionally used in the pharmaceutical industry. “We’ve invented a novel bioreactor that allows us to scale the production of cultivated meat, whether it’s pork, beef, chicken, fat, or muscle,” Mission Barns explains in conversation with Cultivated X. Founded in Berkeley by Eitan Fischer, former director of cellular agriculture at fellow US food tech company Eat Just, Mission Barns’ first product is a cultivated pork fat called Mission Fat, set to transform analogs with new heights of taste and texture. To produce it, the company has developed a technology platform that starts from non-GMO adherent cells and grows them using an animal-free cell culture medium. The “right …

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Cultivated meat startup Orbillion Bio has raised venture capital funding to develop further its predictive model or "scale-up algorithm" for cultivated meat.

© Orbillion Bio
Cultivated Meat

Orbillion Bio Secures Funds to Cultivate Beef at Scale With Innovative Algorithm

Cultivated meat startup Orbillion Bio has secured venture capital funding to develop further its predictive model or “scale-up algorithm” for cultivated meat and bring a product to the market “within a year’s time.” Specializing in cultivating heritage breed meats like Wagyu, elk, and lamb, Orbillion is currently focusing on creating a ground beef product that merges cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients to provide a “tasty, nutritious product at the price of conventionally produced meat,” Orbillion CEO Patricia Bubner, told Cultivated X. The Venture Collective led the funding round, with co-leadership from At One Ventures. YCombinator, Metaplanet, and other prominent global food investors backed the company’s cultivated meat algorithm. This capital brings the startup’s total raised funds to $15 million. The algorithm for cultivated meat Instead of solely …

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Umaro bacon in sandwich close up

© Umaro Foods
Investments & Acquisitions

Umaro Foods Raises $3.8M for Seaweed Bacon, is “Laser Focused on Undercutting Hormel and Smithfield on Cost” 

Berkeley California’s Umaro Foods, producer of bacon from the proprietary red protein, Umaro, announces a raise of $3.8 million following a reported sixfold growth in sales. With the financing — a combination of equity and grant funding — Umaro is set to launch its innovative, patent-holding product into retail and expand its seaweed platform technology platform. The equity funding round was led by AgFunder with participation from Alexandria Venture Investments, Climate Capital Bio, Ponderosa Ventures, and early investor and NBA athlete Chris Paul. The company states that this Seed 2 equity funding round, along with a grant from the DOE’s ARPA-E program for the application of Umaro’s seaweed processing technology to new products, “not only validate Umaro Foods’ innovative approach but also secure its position …

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Renegade Foods sampler set

© Renegade Foods
Company News

Renegade Foods Triples Production of Vegan Charcuterie Products Just Months After “Game-Changing” Launch

Berkeley, CA-based Renegade Foods, a producer of plant-based charcuterie products like salami, chorizo, and sobrasada, announces it has tripled its production capabilities amid increased consumer demand. Co-founder and CEO Iona Campbell states that the brand’s “commitment to creating delicious food leveraging age-old techniques and high-quality ingredients” is fueling company growth. Launched in 2019 by Campbell and Co-founder Kalie Marder, Renegade Foods today reports the addition of more than 20 new accounts following the launch of an “industry first” shelf-stable, vegan salami that can be stored, shipped and merchandised without the need for refrigeration. Furthermore, the company says it has eliminated 80% of its packaging, while dramatically reducing shipping costs.    Since the announcement in March of the shelf-stable sausage, Renegade says it has achieved more than …

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cultivated wagyu burger

Cultivated wagyu burger © Ohayo Valley IG
Company News

Ohayo Valley Unveils Cultivated Wagyu Burger at Private Tasting in California

Last week, Berkeley cultivated meat startup Ohayo Valley unveiled its cultivated wagyu burger at a private tasting organized by KITCHENTOWN in California. 15 startups attended the event, showcasing their products to journalists and investors. On social media, Ohayo Valley said, “Better than Animal! Ohayo’s second historical tasting passed with flying colors. Tasters said that cultivated wagyu burgers taste better than conventional burgers. Next stop is wagyu steak!” The event was hosted by CULT Food Science, an investment platform focused on cellular agriculture (with Canadian entrepreneur Marc Lustig as the company’s largest individual shareholder) and Vevolution, the global vegan investment platform. Erik Amundson, CEO and co-founder of Vevolution, recently published an Op-Ed on vegconomist discussing plant cell culture technology.   Plant proteins & cultivated meat Founded by Jess …

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Plantbased Business Hour

No Shortage of Plant-based Innovation: Bill Aimutis and Celia Homyak

Dr. William Aimutis, Executive Director of the North Carolina Food Innovation Lab and Celia Homyak of the UC Berkley Alt Meat Lab discuss what innovations are happening at the U.S.’s most premiere labs on The Plantbased Business Hour with Elysabeth Alfano.  Specifically, they discuss What are Bill and Celia seeing in terms of production and innovations? Given what they are seeing in the labs, what are they expecting to see transpire in the marketplace? Long-term predictions for investment in the category and consumer adoption. Below is a short clip and transcript from their conversation. Podcast here. Display “Innovation Leaders Say There’s No Slow Down at Plant-based Innovation Labs” from YouTube Click here to display content from YouTube. Learn more in YouTube’s privacy policy. Always display content from YouTube Open “Innovation …

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Umaro bacon

© Umaro Foods
Investments & Acquisitions

Berkeley’s Umaro Foods Secures $3M for Seaweed Bacon

Umaro Foods, formerly known as Trophic, has received $3 million in a round led by AgFunder for its proprietary red protein, Umaro. The company harnesses the umami flavors of seaweed to create plant-based bacon which is set to launch into food service in Q2 of 2022. The round saw participation from Alexandria Venture Investments, Impact Science Ventures, Ponderosa Ventures, Clear Current Capital, Ahimsa Foundation, and Sustainable Food Ventures. Co-founded in 2018 in Berkeley by CEO Beth Zotter, a tech entrepreneur with a background in renewable energy, and CTO Amanda Stiles PhD who formerly led the Research team at Ripple Foods; Umaro Foods is also developing technology for which the company received an ARPA-E grant in order to upscale seaweed farming on a vast level. “Seaweed …

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Ohayo Valley wagyu steak

© Ohayo Valley
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

A Strategic Stake in Steak: CULT Food Science Buys Into Wagyu Ribeye Producer Ohayo Valley

CULT Food Science Corp announces has completed a strategic investment into Berekely’s Ohayo Valley Inc., a cultivated meat science and cell biology company focused on developing and commercializing intellectual property to facilitate the sustainable production of A5-grade cultivated, wagyu ribeye beef. As we reported in August, food innovators around the world are beginning to get involved in alt wagyu across the plant-based, cell-based and even 3D printed spheres. Founder of Canada’s Top Tier Foods, Blair Bullus, noted in an interview with vegconomist that wagyu is hugely appealing to alt meat innovators because “Wagyu beef is widely considered the best beef in the world by meat-eaters and is renowned for its fat marbling and tender qualities.” Ohayo’s unique take on the steak: it claims to have …

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Ohayo Valley wagyu steak

© Ohayo Valley
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

A Strategic Stake in Steak: CULT Food Science Buys Into Wagyu Ribeye Producer Ohayo Valley

CULT Food Science Corp announces has completed a strategic investment into Berekely’s Ohayo Valley Inc., a cultivated meat science and cell biology company focused on developing and commercializing intellectual property to facilitate the sustainable production of A5-grade cultivated, wagyu ribeye beef. As we reported in August, food innovators around the world are beginning to get involved in alt wagyu across the plant-based, cell-based and even 3D printed spheres. Founder of Canada’s Top Tier Foods, Blair Bullus, noted in an interview with vegconomist that wagyu is hugely appealing to alt meat innovators because “Wagyu beef is widely considered the best beef in the world by meat-eaters and is renowned for its fat marbling and tender qualities.” Ohayo’s unique take on the steak: it claims to have …

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Veganburg

©VeganBurg
Gastronomy & Food Service

VeganBurg Opens 3rd Location in Berkely California With Eyes Set On World Dominance

VeganBurg, which was the world’s first plant-based burger joint back in 2010, is celebrating its 11th anniversary by opening its third location in Berkeley, California. The brand, currently located in San Francisco and Singapore, reports that it has plans for international expansion through its franchise scheme. VeganBurg now opens its third location next to Berkeley University, aiming to inspire more science-forward food technology in the progressive district. This July, the Berkeley City Council voted to shift 50% of its current food expenses from animal-based to plant-based before 2024, and has committed to fully omitting animal products in the long term. The city will start serving vegan food at public events, jails, senior centers and other city buildings. VeganBurg, which has been offering the Impossible Burger …

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DxE Berkeley

©DxE
Society

DxE Advocatism Results in Plant-Based Future For City of Berkeley

At a meeting which took place Tuesday this week, after activism by animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE; the Berkeley City Council voted to shift 50% of its current food expenses from animal-based to plant-based before 2024, and in addition has committed to fully omitting animal products as a long term goal. The progressive city will commence the serving of vegan meals at facilities such as public events, jails, and care homes once per week in the style of Meatless Mondays, in an effort to cut carbon emissions and inhumane animal practices. DxE is working for similar policies to be enacted in other cities such as San Francisco and Chicago. The group had initially pushed for a 100% plant based policy but the …

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Renegade Foods salami

Renegade Foods Photo credit: Veronica Darrah

Food & Beverage

Renegade Foods’ Premium Organic Smoked Salamis Now Available to Members With Free Limited Releases

California’s Renegade Foods recently announced the launch of an exclusive subscription service called Renegade Nation. Subscribers to the new service will each month receive three smoked, European-style salamis made entirely from plants – the smoked Calabrian-style Soppressata, sweet Italian Toscana and spicy Spanish-style Chorizo – as well as a free limited release salami each season. “Renegade Nation isn’t just about the food, it’s about having a positive impact on our planet and all animals that call it home” Renegade Foods creates premium organic salamis entirely from plants. Chef made in Sonoma wine country, the recipes are influenced by the founders’ time living and working abroad in southern Europe. The mission of the two founders, sisters Iona Campbell and Kalie Marder, is to empower communities to …

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