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Earth Venture Capital (Earth VC), a global climate tech venture capital firm based in Vietnam, has announced a strategic investment in Orbillion Bio, a US-based cultivated meat startup. This funding round becomes crucial for Orbillion as it seeks to scale production and advance its technology.
The Venture Collective and At One Ventures co-led the investment round, which included Y Combinator and Metaplanet. This collaboration highlights the growing interest and support for innovative solutions in the cultivated meat industry.
Livestock farming is estimated to contribute approximately 11.1-19.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the rising demand for meat due to income and population growth, especially in low- and middle-income countries, sustainable meat production solutions are urgently needed. Cultivated meat grown from animal cells offers a promising alternative that could significantly reduce the environmental impact of traditional livestock farming.
Earth Venture Capital views its investment in Orbillion Bio as a pivotal opportunity to support the cultivated meat industry, which they believe is one of the crucial innovations to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming.
Orbillion, founded in 2020 by Patricia Bubner, Gabriel Levesque-Tremblay, and Samet Yildirim, specializes in producing Wagyu beef cells and aims to become a leading B2B supplier of beef muscle and fat cells.
In September 2023, Orbillion successfully conducted a 200-liter production run in Singapore within an unprecedented timeframe of less than a month. This achievement supported their bioprocess adaptability to existing bioreactor infrastructure.
Additionally, Orbillion partnered with Luiten Food, a European leader in premium meats, to bring cell-cultured Wagyu beef to over 35 countries, pending EU regulatory approval. This partnership leverages Luiten Food’s extensive distribution network, facilitating the market entry of Orbillion’s premium product.
“We are thrilled to partner with Earth VC as we set up our presence in Singapore and explore the Asian market,” Said Patricia, CEO of the startup. “Orbillion is a cultivated meat leader because we’ve shown we can successfully scale up in a fraction of the time and cost of other cultivated meat companies. These technical breakthroughs are critical for Orbillion and the industry, but we never lose sight of our customers and end consumers.”
“We’re incredibly encouraged by the forward-looking regulatory stance and consumers in the Asian market and are thrilled to welcome such a knowledgeable and aligned investor to this charge,” she added.
Despite regulatory challenges in some US states, Earth VC remains optimistic about the future of cultivated meat. “We see this as a prime time to invest,” said Linh Nguyen of Earth VC. “We’re in the early stages of technology adoption, and resistance to change is understandable. We believe things will be different in a few years, and this partnership aims to push the industry forward, especially in the East. Positive developments in regulation have emerged not only in Singapore but also in Korea, Japan, China, and beyond.”
Nguyen added, “Orbillion is unique in this field. Their technology can adapt rapidly to new types of meat, scale to mass production, and remain earth-friendly with low energy consumption and water saving. This aligns perfectly with our fund and our planet.” Orbillion aims to achieve price parity with conventional beef and targets an annual output of 4 million pounds of finished product. The company’s scalable technology relies on an asset-light production system, optimized bioprocesses, and a predictive algorithm for cultivated cells to enable rapid scale-up.
The US ground beef market, valued at $78 billion, presents substantial growth opportunities for the company.
This funding round brings Orbillion’s total raised funds to $15 million, primarily supporting the startup’s efforts to achieve pre-commercial scale and bring its first product to market.
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