Edinburgh-based food technology company Roslin Technologies has announced further investment following on from its Series A round of £11m in November.
The Roslin Institute spinout, which provides animal cell lines to the global cultivated meat industry, welcomed Philippine-based Kickstart Ventures, through the Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation Venture (ACTIVE) Fund, as an investor.
Cultivated meat is meat grown directly from animal cells without the need to raise animals. More than 25 years after Dolly the Sheep was cloned at Roslin, Roslin Technologies is developing pluripotent animal stem cells which have the capacity to self-renew indefinitely and differentiate into desired end-tissues for the cultivated meat industry such as fat and muscle cells.
Roslin Technologies is making these cells available to cultivated meat producers and currently has customers in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Founded in 2017 as a venture between two investment firms and the University of Edinburgh, the company has also been supported by the University’s in-house venture investment fund, Old College Capital.
Kickstart Ventures is the leading and largest corporate venture capital firm in the Philippines, backed by Ayala Corporation, the oldest and one of the largest conglomerates in the country.
The strategic investment from Kickstart Ventures strengthens the Company’s footprint in Asia. It also expands Roslin Technologies’ international shareholder base which already includes investors from the UK, Europe, Asia and US demonstrating the global interest in Roslin Technologies’ offering.
Ernst van Orsouw, Roslin Technologies’ CEO, said:
We are very excited about working with Kickstart. They are passionate about what we do for the food system and bring a fantastic footprint in Asia that will help us expand in that region. ”
Minette Navarrete, President and Co-Founder of Kickstart Ventures said:
This investment in Roslin Tech is a milestone for Kickstart and the ACTIVE Fund. The ACTIVE Fund’s investment in Roslin Tech feeds into our thesis of A World of Plenty, which invests in the future of resource availability - particularly in innovative technologies that reframe the scarcity and abundance of resources. ”
Natalie Black, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific said:
Kickstart Ventures’ investment into Roslin Technologies highlights the strengths of the UK’s world-class $1 trillion tech sector, third in the world after the US and China. I look forward to seeing the breakthroughs that will come from this partnership and the difference it will make in the future of food security. ”
