Hoxton Farms - the startup that cultivates animal fat, without the animals

by Startacus Admin

The lowdown on Hoxton Farms, the innovative foodtech startup that's unlocking a new kind of meat replacement that blends plant-based and cultivated ingredients

For decades, the food industry has faced the challenge of finding effective, low-cost and sustainable replacements for traditional animal fat, the most important sensory ingredient in meat. Fat defines how meat looks, cooks, and tastes – and it does this in a way that cannot be replicated by plant oils currently used in meat alternatives. 

Existing meat alternatives contain plant oils as a substitute for animal fat, but these oils have an enormous environmental impact and make plant-based meat greasy and unpalatable. 

Now, however there is a solution - in the form of innovative foodtech startup Hoxton Farms which uses cultivated fat that is ethical and sustainable without compromising taste and performance.

Starting with a tiny sample of animal cells, Hoxton Farms grows purified animal fat in cultivators, much like the fermentors used for brewing beer. This process is, however, expensive and difficult to scale. The startup is solving this by using proprietary computational models to reduce the cost.

And its innovative solution is set to be developed further, since Hoxton Farms has just announced that it has raised a £2.7 million seed round.

The investment has been secured from leading Silicon Valley VC Founders Fund, founded by Peter Thiel, alongside Backed, Presight Capital, CPT Capital, Sustainable Food Ventures, and angel investors.

Hoxton Farms will use this seed investment to develop a proof of concept of its production platform and build customer partnerships, helping the startup to achieve its goal of supplying cultivated fat to the global meat alternatives industry.

Ed Steele, Co-Founder of Hoxton Farms, commented, “Our mathematical approach drives everything we do at Hoxton Farms. We simulate the entire process computationally, from biopsy to bacon. This “digital twin” allows us to optimise every raw input in parallel, massively improving the cost-efficiency and performance of our cultivated fat for our customers.”

Eric Scott, Principal at Founders Fund, added, “The market for plant-based meat has exploded in recent years, especially during the pandemic. But plant-based meat has a long way to go – and that’s because it’s missing out on real cell-based animal fat. The team’s ability to tailor the precise sensory and functional properties of fat allows them to produce exactly what their customers need. Hoxton Farms has the potential to change an industry.”

Exciting times ahead for this innovative foodtech startup!

 

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Published on: 10th February 2021