2020 investments in the cellular agriculture sector ended with a bang: in December, Matrix Meats, Inc., a company developing nanofiber scaffolds for cultivated meat products, completed a seed stage round for an undisclosed amount.

The newly injected capital is to be invested in R&D, manufacturing and business development. The funding round was led by Unovis Asset Management and further supported by CPT Capital, Siddhi Capital, Clear Current Capital and a special purpose vehicle (SPV) led by the Ikove Startup Nursery Fund.

Matrix Meats was born of a joint venture partnership between the Ikove Startup Nursery and Nanofiber Solutions and is currently doing business with 14 cultivated meat producers from 7 countries.

Matrix Meats' CEO Eric Jenkusky stated, "We believe that our technology is an integral part of allowing the cultivated meat market to mature. Our innovative and programmable electro-spun nano-fiber scaffolds which replicate the extra cellular matrix of living organisms is backed by 50 awarded and pending patents. We will be expanding our efforts to assist our client and partners by accelerating their path to market."

Dr. Jed Johnson, Chief Technology Officer, Matrix Meats, Inc said: "Our technology allows us to control a number of variables in the manufacturing of the scaffolds such as fibre diameter, alignment, porosity, degradation rates as well as the addition of flavour, vitamins, minerals or growth factors."

Mark Langley, Managing Partner at leading investor Unovis stressed the importance of this investment for the cellular agriculture industry in general: “Cellular agriculture needs investments to develop and build tools and technologies to scale the various development platforms. We believe Matrix Meats' technology will play a key role in this ecosystem, and we're thrilled to grow our toolbox of solutions to one of the biggest challenges in improving our food system.”