TurtleTree Labs, a Singapore Startup Making Milk Without Cows, Secures Funding

TurtleTree Labs, a Singapore-based startup working with biotechnology to create the full nutritional content of milk with no cows needed, has secured an undisclosed amount in its pre-seed funding round.

In a statement, the company said the pre-seed round was led by Lever VC with participation by venture capital fund K2 Global and asset management firm KBW Ventures.

TurtleTree Labs harnesses technology to create real milk from animal cells with no animal needed, with the end goal of providing millions access to safer, reliable, and higher quality dairy products.

The company has developed a unique proprietary technology that uses mammary cells to produce real, full milk in clean food production facilities. The end product, being the same as human breast milk and cow milk, will be sold as a food product.

“Our focus on execution will disrupt this multi-billion dollar industry while reducing the carbon footprint on this planet,” the startup, co-founded by CEO Fengru Lin, CSO Rabail Toor, and Chief Strategist Max Rye, said on its website.

The seed funding will be used to further build the company’s scientific team and to create additional prototypes. It plans to publicly debut the world’s first cultivated milk, and mother’s milk, products in the Spring, according to Rye.

Lin, on the other hand, said that the company’s focus now is to bring in the right talent during the company’s early stage to provide TurtleTree the support needed for rapid acceleration, thereby contributing in the global change the company is passionate about.

“We believe the entire landscape of human breast and traditional bovine milk will be transformed as a result of our technology,” she concluded.

Nick Cooney, founder and managing partner at Lever VC, said TurtleTree’s technology could be a serious disruptor in the global dairy industry.

“They are the first company in the world producing real, whole milk from cell cultivation — which opens the door for safer, healthier and customized dairy products that can be produced with far fewer natural resources,” Cooney said.