#agronomics

Agronomics: Estate Planning

UK-based foodtech startup Clean Food Group announced a further €2.7 million in funding to accelerate the commercialisation of its sustainable oils and fats technology. International investment has come from industrial food specialists Doehler Group and Alianza Team as the global food industry looks to invest in healthier and more sustainable food choices for future generations…. This content is…

Consumer demand for meat continues to grow across the world, but this comes at a huge cost to the planet. Cultivated meat is part of the solution – a study by independent research company CE Delft found that cultivated meat can reduce the footprint of conventional beef by up to 92% for greenhouse gas emissions… This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read. The post…

UK-based foodtech startup Clean Food Group leaps forward to launch palm oil alternative

Foodtech startup Clean Food Group is on a mission to develop a more sustainable alternative to palm oil. The UK-based team has now ended its seed round, acquired the required intellectual property, and embarked on new partnerships to scale up the development of its pioneering product.  Palm oil is a massive market. It’s hidden in… This content is for members only. Visit the site and log…

Your next wallet, belt, or jacket may be made from leather that has been grown in a lab, rather than swiped from some unlucky cow, pig, or python. VitroLabs Inc, a Bay-Area-based biotech company has been leading research to “grow” animal leather, a marked contrast to leather alternatives like those seen recently from Piñatex, made from pineapples, or Mylo, made from fungi.

VitroLabs closed Series A financing today that will allow it to build and scale pilot production, raising a total of $46 million from investors that include venture capital firm Agronomics; as well as global luxury group Kering and actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, among others.

CEO Ingvar Helgason co-founded VitroLabs with the mission of creating the highest quality materials to meet the uncompromising standards of the luxury industry while drastically lowering environmental impact and furthering animal welfare. “At a time when environmental stewardship is more important than ever, biotech companies have the opportunity to lead the way in changing how we produce materials and build supply chains, working hand in hand with existing artisans and craftspeople who are the cornerstone of the $400B leather goods industry,” says Helgason. “By launching the first production of cultivated leather, we’ll hit a major milestone in fulfilling our mission to lead the shift towards a more sustainable future.”

“At Kering, a chapter/pillar of our sustainability roadmap is dedicated to sustainable innovation and actively looking for alternative materials that can reduce our environmental impact over the long term is part of the solutions we have been exploring for years. We believe that innovation is key to addressing the sustainability challenges that the luxury industry is facing, which is why we are very interested in the potential of biomaterials such as cultivated leather,” said Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability and Institutional Affairs Officer at Kering.

Helgason adds: “There has been an explosion of companies that are developing alternative materials to leather. However, at VitroLabs, our cultivated animal leather preserves the biological characteristics that the industry, craftsmen, and consumers know and love about leather, while eliminating the most environmentally and ethically detrimental aspects of the conventional leather manufacturing process associated with its sourcing.”

Agronomics: Crowdfunding