Dive Brief:
Cellular agriculture startup Mission Barns has raised a $24 million Series A round from a long list of investors with deep ties to the plant-based and fermented animal products segments, including Gullspang Re:Food (an Oatly investor), Humboldt Fund (NotCo, Geltor), Green Monday Ventures (Beyond Meat, Perfect Day) and Enfini Ventures (Impossible Foods, Memphis Meats).
The company will use the new funding to build a pilot manufacturing plant in the San Francisco Bay Area and scale up its Mission Fat technology, which involves feeding cells from a pig, chicken, or cow to plant-based feedstocks inside a cultivator. The process leads to pure animal fat, which can improve the palatability and flavor of meat alternatives, while emitting far less carbon and using less water and land than conventional meat, according to the startup.