.png)
As the global demand for sustainable and ethical food sources intensifies, cultivated meat—produced by growing animal cells in controlled environments—emerges as a promising solution. In the Asia-Pacific region, several innovative startups are leading advancements in this field.
Year Founded: 2015
Country: Japan
Total Funding Raised: $17M
Latest Funding Round: Series A
IntegriCulture is developing the "CulNet™ System," a versatile large-scale cell culture technology aimed at producing various cell-based products, including cultivated meat. Imagine a network of bioreactors that mimic how organs interact in a living body. This setup creates essential serum components for cell growth, all without using animal-derived serum, making cell cultivation more efficient and affordable.
Big things have been happening for IntegriCulture lately. In August 2024, the company was selected for the "ASEAN Enterprise Collaboration Project" by Leave a Nest, opening doors for exciting new partnerships with ASEAN companies. And just a month later, the CulNet Consortium, led by IntegriCulture, announced significant progress on four key projects and several patent applications. With commercialization in its sights, IntegriCulture is moving full steam ahead toward a breakthrough in cellular agriculture.
Year Founded: 2020
Country: Singapore
Total Funding Raised: $3M
Latest Funding Round: Series Seed
Umami Bioworks focuses on producing high-quality cultivated seafood, addressing challenges like overfishing and environmental degradation. Their mission? To deliver sustainable, delicious seafood that rivals the real thing in both taste and quality.
Combining breakthroughs in genomics, stem cell biology, and machine learning, Umami Bioworks employs its proprietary ALKEMYST™ platform to develop scalable and automated solutions for seafood production.
And they’re making waves globally. In October 2024, they launched operations in the UK, joining forces with University College London and Imperial College to bring their products closer to market. Just a month earlier, they partnered with KCell Biosciences and WSG in South Korea to set up a production facility, pushing cultivated seafood to new frontiers.
Year Founded: 2019
Country: Australia
Total Funding Raised: $55M
Latest Funding Round: Series A
Vow is reimagining the possibilities of cultivated meat by crafting exciting, unexpected flavors from a wide range of animal cells. Think beyond the usual—Vow is experimenting with everything from kangaroo to alpaca, bringing a new dimension to meat that’s perfect for adventurous eaters and eco-conscious diners alike.
Instead of traditional livestock farming, Vow cultures cells from various species, growing only the specific meat they want. This happens in large bioreactors, where the team can produce these unique flavors sustainably and at scale.
Vow recently secured regulatory approval in Singapore, making it one of the few cultivated meat companies in the world to receive such approval. As the first country in the world to green-light cultivated meat, Vow is seizing this opportunity to launch its products there, bringing cultivated meat to everyday consumers.
Year Founded: 2021
Country: South Korea
Total Funding Raised: $1.6M
Latest Funding Round: Seed
TissenBioFarm is pushing the boundaries of cultivated meat with its advanced 3D bioprinting technology, creating cuts that look, feel, and taste just like traditional meat. Their process allows them to produce meat fibers at astonishing speeds—up to 35,000 times faster than typical 3D printing techniques.
Using a unique optogenetics approach, they stimulate cell growth with light, slashing costs by eliminating the need for pricey growth factors.
In a testament to their innovation, TissenBioFarm snagged the "Cultured Meat Product of the Year" award at the 2024 AgTech Breakthrough Awards. The company has successfully produced a 10kg cultivated meat prototype and is capable of creating various cuts of meat, such as sirloin, tenderloin, and ribeye, by mimicking the structure of muscle tissue and marbling of real meat.
Year Founded: 2021
Country: New Zealand
Total Funding Raised: $1M
Latest Funding Round: Pre-Seed
Opo Bio is New Zealand’s first company to develop non-GM cell lines tailored for the cultivated meat industry. Specializing in primary cells and cell lines, they’ve set their sights on high-demand products like bovine and porcine, bringing a new level of quality and sustainability to the cultivated meat sector.
With its flagship ‘Opo-Moo’ range, Opo Bio delivers top-grade bovine satellite cells, pre-adipocytes, and fibroblasts sourced from Angus and Wagyu breeds. Recently, it launched ‘Opo-Oink,’ a porcine cell line for cultivated pork, broadening its portfolio and responding to growing market demand for sustainable alternatives.
Opo Bio’s journey has hit an exciting milestone with its latest funding by WNT Ventures. This fresh infusion of capital will power Opo Bio’s next phase: scaling up, diversifying its offerings, and expanding into B2B ingredients like cell-based collagen.
Year Founded: 2018
Country: Hong Kong
Total Funding Raised: $10.8M
Latest Funding Round: Series A
Avant Meats, China's first cultivated seafood startup, is reimagining the future of fish with sustainable, cultivated products like fish fillets and the cherished fish maw—a true delicacy in Chinese cuisine. Their mission is to meet the world’s growing appetite for seafood without draining the oceans, providing an ethical, eco-friendly alternative that doesn’t compromise quality.
Leveraging advanced cell culture technology, Avant crafts pure, contaminant-free fish proteins, offering a cleaner choice compared to conventional seafood. They’re also making waves in skincare with Zellulin, a first-of-its-kind cell-based protein developed for cosmeceuticals.
And the company’s ambitions don’t stop there. By 2025, Avant aims to scale up production at its Singapore pilot plant, boosting bioreactor capacity from 250L to 2000L. Recent pilot runs have already yielded kilos of cultivated fish, which they’re sharing with potential customers to showcase the product’s potential.