Gourmey raises €48M Series A, announces Europe’s largest cultivated meat hub

• Paris-based Gourmey, France’s pioneering cultivated meat company, closes a €48M Series A round led by Earlybird Venture Capital – this is the world’s largest Series A round for a cultivated meat startup.
• Gourmey creates sustainable culinary-grade meats from real animal cells with an initial focus on premium meats. Cultivated meat production consumes significantly less land and water and could cut the climate impact of meat production by up to 92%.
• Gourmey announces a 46,000-square-foot commercial production facility and R&D center in Paris, France – Europe’s largest cultivated meat hub to manufacture and commercialize its first product line.
• The company’s flagship product is a world first: cultivated foie gras, followed by other sustainable premium meat products.
• The company will use the funding to triple its world-class team to 120 members and expand its product portfolio in collaboration with chefs, culinary partners and global food distributors.

Paris, October 5, 2022 – Paris-based Gourmey, France’s pioneering cultivated meat company, announced that it has raised €48M in new financing, the largest Series A round for a cultivated meat startup to date. Earlybird Venture Capital led the oversubscribed financing with participation from a new syndicate of investors including Amsterdam-based Keen Venture Partners and Instacart CEO Fidji Simo as well as existing investors including Heartcore Capital, Point Nine Capital, Air Street Capital, Partech and Beyond Investing.

The financing will enable Gourmey to achieve several major industry milestones, including opening a 46,000-square-foot commercial production facility and R&D center in Paris, France – the largest cultivated meat hub in Europe – to fast-track commercialization globally. The company will also triple its 40+ world-class team and keep expanding its product portfolio in collaboration with chefs, culinary partners and food distributors.

“Food is the single strongest lever we can action as individuals to slow down climate change. Today, we are thrilled to see our vision of a more sustainable food system come to life as we are moving from R&D to production and commercialization with the building of one of the largest cultivated meat plants in the world”, said Gourmey co-founder & CEO, Nicolas Morin-Forest.

Gourmey creates sustainable culinary-grade meats from real animal cells. Cultivated meat production consumes significantly less land and water and could cut the climate impact of meat production by up to 92%. The company, which has raised

€56M in financing to date, has a strong focus on taste through gastronomic and food sciences, with an initial focus on premium and high-quality meats.

Gourmey’s first-of-its-kind cultivated meat hub and commercial production facility is set to welcome 120 engineers, culinary experts and operators by 2024 with a planned annual production capacity of tens of thousands of pounds of high-quality cultivated meats starting with its flagship product: cultivated foie gras.

The new funding round also includes participation from Paris-based Omnes Capital and Eutopia, Berlin-based Discovery Ventures, Singapore-based Thia Ventures and support from public institutions including Bpifrance (French public investment bank).

This is the first deal in France since Earlybird opened its physical office in Paris – demonstrating a strong interest in investing there. “Gourmey is well positioned to become a global winner and lead the paradigm shift towards a more sustainable, equitable and resilient food supply chain. The company’s exceptional team has demonstrated how so-called frontier technology’s bottlenecks can be overcome at record-speed”, said Christian Nagel, Partner & Co-Founder at Earlybird Venture Capital.

“As early supporters, we have been consistently impressed with Gourmey’s achievements in such a small amount of time. We are excited to double down and support their world-class team as they take meat alternatives to culinary heights”, said Yacine Ghalim, Partner at Heartcore Capital.

“Gourmey has developed its breakthrough products rapidly and with greater capital efficiency than its peers thanks to the team’s immense ingenuity in stem cell, bioprocess engineering and food sciences. Their approach is generalisable to diverse mammalian tissues and huge scales, which charts a clear path to becoming a platform food company”, said Nathan Benaich, General Partner at Air Street Capital.

“We are committed to joining Gourmey in its mission to help satisfy the world’s growing appetite for meat without compromising on planetary health or flavor”, added Alexander Ribbink, General Partner at Keen Venture Partners.

Gourmey’s  products  have  already  convinced  French  and  International Michelin-starred chefs as well as leading meat distributors globally. “The next few months and years are going to be immensely pivotal and exciting not only for Gourmey but more broadly for cultivated meat and sustainable foods”, said Nicolas Morin-Forest.