Cultured Decadence, a Madison startup specializing in cell-cultured seafood products such as lab-grown lobster meat, said it has closed a $1.6 million pre-seed round of funding.
The round was led by investors including Bluestein Ventures, Joyance Partners, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, gener8tor, GlassWall Syndicate, Bascom Ventures and Dao Foods, an investment holding company based in China.
“We’ve been impressed with the team’s skill set and scientific integrity,” Ashley Hartman, a senior principal at Bluestein Ventures, said in a press release. “We’re excited to join the pre-seed round for Cultured Decadence and for the potential of their technology to transform the market for seafood. We look forward to supporting their vision to create animal-free shellfish.”
Cultured Decadence additionally received non-dilutive funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. administered by the Center for Technology Commercialization, the first cellular aquaculture company to do so, according to the release.
“This funding highlights critical progress made by Cultured Decadence and the importance of their collaborative engagement with academic and industry partners,” said CTC director Idella Yamben. “CTC is excited for their continued success as they work to scale their technology in Wisconsin.”
This $1.6 million in financing will allow Cultured Decadence to expand its team and pursue technical progress in the development of lab-grown lobster prototypes in anticipation of a commercial launch, according to the release.
Founded by John Pattison and Ian Johnson, the company launched in January 2020 after the pair met in San Francisco and began exploring a venture to tap into the alternative meat movement made popular by companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. The seafood space — a $160 billion market — was one area that was underserved, Pattison told Wisconsin Inno last year.
The two relocated to Madison because of its reputation and talent in biotech. Today, the company operates out of Forward BIOLABS, a co-working and incubator space for life science startups.
The company’s technology uses the cells of shellfish, such as lobster, to make edible meat without the shells or organs “thereby offering seafood that is more sustainable, animal-friendly and indistinguishable,” from shellfish caught in the wild, the release said.
“The way we engage with animals as a food source needs to change if we are to thrive as a planet,” Pattison said. “Our team is at the forefront of that change as we build the future of seafood a thousand miles from the nearest ocean. We are pleased to partner with an experienced group of investors that share our vision and are eager to bring our technology to bring transformative seafood products to market.”
