Brazilian giant JBS invests 36 million in the Basque cultured-meat producer BioTech Foods
BioTech Foods is a start-up company founded in 2017 with the mission of producing and commercializing cultured meat. It was launched at nanoGUNE under the scientific guidance of Dr. Mercedes Vila, former scientific director of the start-up company Ctech-nano, also at nanoGUNE.
In 2017, Mercedes Vila tackled, together with a group of entrepreneurs, the design of a business initiative with the aim of developing a new technology to produce cultured meat. For that purpose, a dedicated laboratory was set up at nanoGUNE until the new company started to fly solo, in 2020, at the Gipuzkoa Science and Technology Park in San Sebastian.
BioTech Foods, with its own technology, is now taking a step towards the commercialization of its product in the international market. The investment of 36 million by the Brazilian giant JBS will enable the firm to build an industrial plant in the Basque Country for cultured meat, a type of product that comes from animal cells and does not require the slaughter of livestock.
The new factory will be installed near San Sebastian, in the Basque region of Gipuzkoa. The goal is to have the new plant ready in 2024, when commercialization is expected to begin.
"This is a first investment by JBS, but there may be others in the future", announces the CEO of BioTech Foods, Iñigo Charola. All current partners, including nanoGUNE, remain as shareholders of the company.