UK biotech BSF Enterprise has partnered with Ivy Farm Technologies to support fundraising, launch and scale of cell-based meat in China.
Founded in 2019, Ivy Farm is a cultivated meat business that uses its technology to produce nutritious mincemeat from premium Wagyu Beef, Aberdeen Angus and English Large White Pork tissue. These ingredients are then transformed into final products like meatballs, scotch eggs and burgers.
BSF Enterprise has recently established an independent entity – BSF Enterprise Hong Kong (BSF HK) – as it aims to build a distribution and partner network in the Greater China market.
Due to BSF HK's strong presence and investor network in the Asian cultivated meat and tissue engineering sectors, it seeks collaborations with multiple biotech and green tech firms.
The partnership involves "generating and progressing investment opportunities to support the company’s fundraising ambitions".
BSF will support Ivy Farm's ongoing funding round to scale up technology for larger production-sized fermenters. Ivy Farm aims to produce 12,000 tonnes from a single efficient facility powered by renewable energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 92% and land use by 90% compared to industrial farming. According to BSF, this is essential, given China's annual consumption of over 100 million tons of meat, accounting for more than a quarter of global meat consumption.
Che Connon, managing director of BSF Enterprise and CEO of 3DBT, commented: “Today’s announcement represents the start of a strong commercial and technical working relationship between BSF Enterprise and Ivy Farm. The cultivated meat market is front and centre for China in its blueprint for food security as part of its five-year agricultural plan."
"We look forward to helping Ivy Farm enter the China market through securing investment and working with key manufacturers to develop a variety of cultivated meat products that can serve a significant, growing market."
