Wild Type Raises Series A to Make Cell-based Salmon
Wild Type announced that they raised $12.5 million in Series A funding. Based in San Francisco, Wild Type is a startup that uses cellular agriculture to grow cell-based seafood. Founded by Justin Kolbeck and Aryé Elfenbien, cell-based seafood offers a sustainable solution to meet the global fish demand without further depleting global fish populations. Cell-based seafood also offers a way to increase transparency and traceability in the obscure seafood supply chain.
Wild Type’s round of funding was led by CRV, a venture capital firm that has previously invested in food delivery startup DoorDash. Other investors in the round include Maven Ventures and seed round investors Spark Capital and Root Ventures. This round of funding brings Wild Type’s total funding to $16 million. Wild Type previously raised $3.5 million in their seed round in March 2018.
The funding round continues Wild Type’s great year. In June, Wild Type made history by showcasing the first ever cell-based salmon dinner in Portland, Oregon. From salmon tartare to salmon ceviche to salmon sushi rolls, Wild Type displayed that cell-based salmon can be as versatile as conventional salmon. Without requiring any animals. Wild Type’s event was the second cell-based seafood tasting this year. In March, Singapore-based Shiok Meats showcased the first cell-based shrimp dumpling.
Interestingly, Wild Type is the first cell-based seafood startup to announce their Series A round of funding. In 2018, the other cell-based seafood startups in California, Finless Foods and BlueNalu, announced that they raised $3.5 million and $4.5 million to complete their seed rounds, respectively. Earlier this year, Shiok Meats announced that they raised $4.6 million to complete their seed round.
Wild Type plans to use their round of funding to accelerate the development of their cell-based seafood. They plan to focus on developing a delicious product as well as aim to further expand their capabilities to scale production. They will likely focus on cell-based salmon before exploring other types of seafood. Finless Foods and BlueNalu have previously stated they are focusing on producing cell-based Bluefin tuna and mahi mahi, respectively.
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My name is Ahmed Khan, and I am the Editor of CellAgri. Please subscribe to my email newsletter at www.cell.ag to get the latest research and news about cellular agriculture, which I share exclusively with my email subscribers. We are regularly tweeting out interesting articles and thoughts via twitter @Cellagritech
