The cellular agriculture ecosystem in Australia

Food Frontier is an independent think tank on alternative proteins in Australia and New Zealand. They conduct research in alternative proteins, support food producers, and advise policymakers. 

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Grok ventures is a private investment company with a focus on fast-growing, technology-enabled businesses. They have invested in Vow.

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UniSC is home to one of our fantastic past volunteers, Lisa, who is currently completing a PhD researching Crustacean Biotechnology and Cultivated Meat.

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Sartorius AG is a pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier. They supply the lab products and bioprocess solutions required to produce cellular agriculture products.

FaBA is an industry-led performance-based accelerator launched in 2023, which aims to support the commercialisation of food and ingredients produced using synthetic biology from lab through to industrial-scale production. Its Innovative Ingredients Program will focus on precision fermentation, and will involve investment in key infrastructure as well as supporting product and process scale-up.

ON Accelerate is a free program that gives teams the skills and support to validate and develop a high potential innovative venture. ON Accelerate is designed to launch research-driven companies into market. The program focusses on business models, market validation, capital raising and storytelling.

NGS Super is an industry super fund which has invested in Vow.

Blackbird is an investment firm focusing on technology companies at any stage of development. Their Australian cellular agriculture investments include Heuros and Vow.

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Smart MCs are a B2B company developing custom microcarriers made from biodegradable materials, servicing both the cellular agriculture and therapeutic sectors. Their customised microcarriers are tailored to specific cell types and applications, providing an efficient and simplified cell culture process without significant cell losses.

Heuros is focussed on creating animal component-free and GM-free growth factors, which eliminates the use of utilise fetal bovine serum. They will supply these growth factors, as well as custom bioreactors they produce to cultivated meat companies. They also intend to develop their own cultivated meat products to be sold directly to consumers. 

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Noumi is an Australian ASX listed company with a variety of successful plant-based brands. They have diversified into precision fermentation, and are developing precision-fermented lactoferrin. They are currently producing ‘PUREnFERRIN’ lactoferrin from traditionally-produced, bovine sources.

Infinite Bioworks is a B2B company working to develop and optimise commercial cell lines for ingredients and advanced materials.

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Tenacious Ventures is an early-stage venture capital capital firm specialising in agtech and climate startups. They have invested in Vow. 

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UoW is home to Professor Markus Wagner, Professor of International and Comparative Law with a special research interest in the trade of cellular agriculture products. CAA is currently working with Markus to explore the intersection of trade, labelling and international law in the context of cellular agriculture products.

Arta Bioanalytics provides bespoke bioinformatics and analytical support to the cellular agriculture industry. They specialise in Omics technologies (e.g. Genomics, Transcriptomics etc.) and provide data analysis support, experimental design, and strategic and technical consulting to companies.

UQ is the host of Australia's Food & Beverage Accelerator, a unique industry-government-university alliance with the aim of supporting the commercialisation of synthetic biology-derived food and ingredients

Monash University has various cellular agriculture researchers working in the Australia Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI). They also collaborated with Noumi on research into the use of precision fermentation to produce lactoferrin.

Co-Labs is a transdisciplinary innovation hub and biotechnology co-working laboratory, catalysing the transition toward a circular, bio-based economy. They also provide access to enabling technology, community and other capacity-building infrastructure. They have provided laboratory and co-working space to cellular agriculture companies Magic Valley, Vow and CAA!

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is the Australian Federal Government's 'green fund', supporting the country to reach its target of net zero emissions by 2050. They have invested in All G Foods.

Magic Valley is a Melbourne-based cultivated meat company that has launched cultivated lamb and pork prototypes to date. The company’s breakthrough technology has allowed them to develop products without the need for fetal bovine serum (FBS).

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We previously funded two students at the University of Melbourne as part of our Seed Grant Program. One of our wonderful ex-volunteers, Brodie Peace, is completing a PhD here in food chemistry, focussing on media optimisation.

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UTS is home to the Biologics Innovation Facility, a bioprocessing teaching and training facility supported by the NSW Government and NCRIS. It has provided facilities to cellular agriculture companies.

Fytobio is a CSIRO ON Program Alumni founded in 2022. They use molecular farming to supply food-grade recombinant proteins to cellular agriculture companies to allow them to affordably grow cells for cultivated meat, seafood, leather and cosmetics. Through providing these specialised performance proteins to cellular agriculture companies, Fytobio hopes to solve the supply chain to cultivated meat.

The University of Sydney is leading the Alternative Protein Cooperative Research Centre bid, which works with industry and research organisations to identify and support market-led opportunities for alternative protein development. Their researchers have been granted significant funding from the NSW government to support alternative protein production methods, including precision fermentation.

SproutX catalyses connections between Australian founders, investors, industry mentors, agribusiness, academia, and government to affect world-class innovation across the agrifood supply chain. They provide accelerator programs for agtech and foodtech startups.

Change Foods is a US-Australian company focussed on producing precision-fermented dairy products. Since its founding in 2020, Change Foods has announced plans to build a commercial manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi. With an expected capacity of over one million litres, the facility will not only be the first of its kind in the region, but also potentially the largest of its kind in the world.

Canberra-based Nourish Ingredients is a B2B ingredient producer developing fats using precision fermentation technology. Product prototypes include 'Tastilux,' a precision-fermented animal fat, and 'Creamilux' a precision-fermented dairy fat. The company was co-founded by two former CSIRO scientists and is backed by CSIRO’s venture capital firm, Main Sequence. 

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Main Sequence is a venture capital firm investing in deep tech. They manage the CSIRO Innovation Funds, which invest in deep tech, high growth startups with a connection to publicly funded research. Main Sequence has invested in emerging Australian firms including Cauldron Ferm, Eden Brew, and Nourish Ingredients.

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Miruku are a molecular farming company using oilseed crops to produce dairy. They are developing a ‘Dairy Seed System,' which will enable oilseed crops to produce dairy protein and fats in their seeds. These seeds can be planted, grown, harvested and processed into food ingredients.

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Cauldron is an Australian-based contract manufacturer building a global network of precision fermentation facilities to help develop, prove and commercially scale new food, feed, fibre and fuel products. Cauldron's proprietary hyperfermentation platform utilises continuous fermentation cycles to unlock price parity for precision-fermented products.

Giant Leap is a venture capital fund dedicated to investing in impact startups. They have invested in Change Foods.  

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We previously co-funded a Swinburne student as a part of our Seed Grant Program.

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Founded in 2020, All G Foods is a Sydney-based precision fermentation company. They are developing high-value nutritional protein ingredients, starting with precision-fermented lactoferrin and caseins assembled into casein micelles. Their precision-fermented dairy proteins will be used in a number of products including milk and cheese.

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Eden Brew is a precision fermentation company co-founded by Main Sequence Ventures, CSIRO and Norco (Australia’s biggest dairy co-op), as well as ex-Woolworths executive, Jim Fader. The company has successfully recreated the six most abundant dairy proteins found in cow's milk, and are preparing for the launch of their first product, a precision-fermented dairy ice-cream.

Better Bite Ventures (BBV) is the Asia Pacific’s first dedicated alternative protein venture capital firm. BBV focuses on early stage investments (founding, pre seed and seed). They have made investments in cell-cultivation, biomass fermentation, precision fermentation, molecular farming and plant-based products. This includes Australian companies Vow and Change Foods.

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The Alternative Proteins Council (APC), founded in March 2021, is the representative group for Australia and New Zealand’s alternative proteins sector. The APC provides a collective voice for the sector, and a platform to discuss shared issues and opportunities. The Council works to ensure the voice of the sector remains unified and impactful on key issues.

We are currently working with Deakin University researchers Gie Liem and Adam Cardilini on two consumer research projects on cultivated meat and precision fermentation. We also previously funded three undergraduate researchers as part of our Seed Grant Program.

UNSW Founders Program is Australia’s most comprehensive university entrepreneurship program, graduating the highest number of Australian start-up founders. Their Bio 10x program, which has a particular focus on synthetic biology, was credited as transformational during the launch of precision fermentation manufacturer Cauldron Ferm.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. It is home to the Future Protein Mission, which supports innovation and growth for all types of protein, including novel proteins that sit within cellular agriculture.

Breakthrough Victoria is an independent company that manages a $2 billion investment fund set up by the Victorian Government to make Victoria a global innovation leader, and have invested in Eden Brew.They bring together investors, research institutions, governments and companies to commercialise great ideas that create jobs in emerging industries.

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Square Peg Capital invests in emerging technology companies. They provided seed funding for Vow. 

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Founded in 2019, Vow is a Sydney-based cultivated meat company. They opened the first cultivated meat facility in Australia and in 2023 submitted the first food safety application for a cultivated meat product to FSANZ. Vow's first product, Forged quail parfait, has been approved for sale in Singapore and is currently available through various foodservice partners.

Australian Ethical is an Australian Superannuation Fund that has supported CAA through its Visionary Grant program.

W23 is a global grocery retail venture capital fund, owned by Woolworths. They have invested in All G Foods.

Radar Ventures is a private capital fund based in Australia and New Zealand, investing globally. They are interested in biotech and alt proteins, having invested in Eden Brew and Nourish Ingredients.

Startupbootcamp is a startup accelerator, with various accelerator and scale programs worldwide. Here in Australia, Food Tech and Fermentation Tech are their core focus areas.

That’s us! Australia’s only non-profit specialising in the cellular agriculture sector.

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Startmate is an Australian and New Zealand accelerator that is associated with Blackbird Ventures.

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QUT has established a Food Innovation Program, with a key focus on synthetic biology and precision fermentation. QUT is a co-investor in the Mackay Renewable Biocommodities pilot plant upgrade, and which will see the facility transformed into the nation's only PC2 precision fermentation facility. They are also a partner in Australia's Food & Beverage Accelerator.

Professor Ian Paulsen of Macquarie University leads an Australian Research Council (ARC Centre of Excellence) in Synthetic Biology.

Professor Johannes les Coutre at UNSW has a broad research interest in cellular agriculture and the food industry. He also supervises research in cell culture, media development, and bioreactor adaptation.

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