The Tallinn-based biotech startup Gelatex has opened a Series A round, set to raise €15 million to produce meat alternative. It doesn’t harm any animals and consists of nanofibers, Invest in Estonia informs.
- Founded in 2016 by Mari-Ann Meigo Fonseca and Märt-Erik Martens, Gelatex is a biomaterials technology company. The company invents the fastest technology for producing gelatin-based nanofibers on a larger scale.
- Gelatex’s nanofiber essentially helps to form a structured product that looks and tastes like real meat at a reasonable price. Apart from meat alternative, it helps to deal with tissue engineering, creating bio-based filters, as well as fake leather textile, energy storage, wound care, and many more.
“We have a solution for reducing greenhouse gases and methane, for preserving more clean water and land. We will solve the meat problem without harming any animals,”
Märt-Erik Martens explains.
- However, the alternative is not completely vegan. Although Gelatex’s nanofibrous materials on which the meat cells are grown are plant-based, the cells alone are extracted from an animal. Albeit, compared to conventional meat, the animal stays alive.
- The company plans to use the future €15 million funding to start the pilot production line.
