VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 23, 2021 /CNW/ – Eat Beyond Global Holdings Inc. (CSE: EATS) (OTCPK: EATBF) (FSE: 988) (“Eat Beyond” or the “Company“), an investment issuer focused on the global plant-based and alternative protein sector, is announcing that its portfolio company Eat Just’s GOOD Meat division has completed a US$97 million financing.
This follows its recently announced plans to build a commercial facility for GOOD Meat in Qatar, and there are also plans to add a protein processing facility for JUST Egg, the company’s plant-based egg division.
The Qatar Free Zones Authority and the Ministry of Public Health have indicated their intention to grant regulatory approval for GOOD Meat cultivated chicken very soon and have formally granted an export license for the product. GOOD Meat created the world’s first-to-market meat made from animal cells instead of slaughtered livestock.
This latest financing completes a total US$267 million round for GOOD Meat and sets a new record for the cultured meat industry.
“Eat Just made world history when its cultured chicken product was sold in a Singapore restaurant in late 2020. Qatar is on track to become the second country to allow the sale of GOOD Meat,” said Eat Beyond CEO Michael Aucoin. “Cultured meat is a unique opportunity, and we are at a very exciting time in history where we are on the cusp of completely reimagining our food systems to reduce negative impacts on the environment and on our own health.”
Along with Eat Just, the Eat Beyond portfolio includes two additional Singapore-based leaders in the cultured food industry: TurtleTree and SingCell. TurtleTree is a biotech company that’s using cell-based technology to create sustainable food and dairy. SingCell operates as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), offering GMP manufacturing solutions for third-party clean meat, and stem cell companies.
“Eat Beyond recognizes the high upside potential for cultured meat and dairy,” Aucoin said. “We anticipate additional jurisdictions around the world embracing cell-based food technology, ultimately driving demand for the products and helping the industry to overcome the biggest challenge it faces, which is scalability and the ability to make these products cost-competitive.”