TurtleTree Labs has announced the launch of TurtleTree Scientific, dedicated to the growth of food-grade growth factors. Despite the costs of producing cell-based meat declining over the years, the cell culture media and growth factors remain one of the biggest cost contributors, hindering the path to market.
What does this mean for the cellular agriculture industry? In early 2021, TurtleTree Scientific will be working with cell-based meat companies on the production of food-grade growth factors. The prices are expected to be a fraction of pharmaceutical-grade equivalents on the market. Singapore, as the first country in the world to approve the sale of cell-based meat products, is strategic as the country is bound to attract the attention of more cell-based companies and has existing customers that it can scale with.
The availability of cost-efficient growth factors will be essential for cellular agriculture to validate its economic feasibility. In addition, Singapore is also a regional biotech hub where quality growth factors are in high demand for their use in the life sciences industry.
Bruce Fredrich the executive director of Good Food Institute is very excited for this launch. “Singapore for the win again. The exciting work being done at Turtle Tree Labs is happening with tremendous support from the government, and other governments need to follow Singapore’s lead. Governments are interested in stopping the next pandemic and in keeping antibiotics working, and governments want to meet their climate obligations under the Paris climate agreement, so governments should be following Singapore’s lead and doing all they can to create a welcoming environment for innovative companies like TurtleTree Labs. Right now, Singapore is in a class by itself; other governments need to step up.”
“Not only are we collaborating with local research institutes like NUS and NTU, but also global institutions like Wageningen University in the Netherlands. We have already started sending some samples to other cell-based meat companies and aim to play a major role in this industry,” says Max Rye, Chief Strategist of TurtleTree Labs.
TurtleTree Labs has recently raised US$9.4M from investors which include Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed’s KBW Ventures and Hong Kong venture capital firm Green Monday Ventures. As an arm of TurtleTree Labs, TurtleTree Scientific will have its own team of experienced industry players driving it.
About TurtleTree Labs – TurtleTree Labs is shaping the future for dairy milk and infant nutrition production with its proprietary, cell-based technology method to produce milk and milk components sustainably. Together with its valued partners, TurtleTree Labs is able to achieve resource efficiency and increase access to healthier, safer, reliable, and higher quality dairy products for consumers.
About TurtleTree Scientific – TurtleTree Scientific was founded out of a desire to solve the challenges of cellular agriculture. We’re producing food-grade growth factors and cell culture media to design the necessary foundations for the industry to thrive. TurtleTree Scientific is started by TurtleTree Labs and is led by an experienced team of industry professionals.
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