Agronomics Limited has announced that its portfolio company, Good Dog Food Ltd, has rebranded and will now be known as 'Meatly' in preparation for its upcoming product launch in the UK. Meatly is focused on producing ethical and sustainable cultivated meat for pets without compromising on nutritional benefits. Agronomics has invested £1.2 million into Meatly since its inception and currently holds an equity ownership of 40.7% on a fully diluted basis. The rebranding includes the launch of a new consumer-facing website, www.meatly.pet. CEO Owen Ensor stated that Meatly aims to become a household name for healthy, sustainable, and delicious pet food.
Meatly's mission is to provide real meat made through cellular agriculture, which eliminates the need for traditional animal farming methods that require a significant amount of land, water, and antibiotics. The company believes that cultivated meat is crucial for addressing environmental degradation caused by conventional meat production. Meatly sees pet food as the natural starting point for cultivated meat, given consumers' excitement about alternative protein options. The company aims to be at the forefront of the future of meat production in the UK.
Agronomics is a venture capital firm focused on cellular agriculture. It has a portfolio of over 20 companies in the sector and seeks to secure minority stakes in companies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials historically derived from animals. Cellular agriculture involves producing agricultural products directly from cells, such as cultivated meat and materials, using molecular biology, synthetic biology, tissue engineering, and biotechnology. The company believes that the shift towards cellular agriculture is necessary to meet sustainability goals and feed the world's expanding population.
The market for cultivated meat is projected to reach a 35% market share by 2040, according to AT Kearney. The Good Food Institute estimates that a $1.8 trillion investment will be required to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is accelerating, but the industry has received less than $5 billion in investments worldwide since its inception in 2016.
Overall, Agronomics and its portfolio company Meatly are positioning themselves at the forefront of the growing field of cellular agriculture, aiming to provide sustainable and ethical alternatives to traditional meat production for pets and humans alike.