Cambridge-based Uncommon (formerly Higher Steaks), a cultivated meat startup, announced on Friday that it has secured $30M (approximately €28M) in a Series A round of funding led by Balderton Capital and Lowercarbon.
Other investors include Red Alpine, East Alpha, and previous investors Max and Sam Altman, Miray Zaki, and Sebastiano Castiglioni.
To date, the company has raised $35M in funding.
Fund utilisation
Uncommon says it will use the funds to bring the goods cost down, apply for regulatory approval, and scale up production at its pilot manufacturing facility at Cambridge Technopark.
The company intends to double its headcount over the next 18 months to further expand capabilities.
Benjamina Bollag, founder and CEO of Uncommon, says, “From a young age, I have always wondered how diets and food choices can have a disproportionate impact on our health. This led me to found Uncommon, a bio creation company that uses the power of cells to tackle the most pressing challenges to our health, starting with cultivated pork.”
Uncommon: Creating better real meat without antibiotics
Founded by Benjamina Bollag and Dr. Ruth Faram as Higher Steaks, Uncommon leverages RNA technology and induced pluripotent stem cells to better create real meat without antibiotics, animal products, or gene editing.
“The entire field of RNA is still fairly new, but it’s no exaggeration that in 2019 when we began designing applications for cultivated meat we were etching on a blank slate. We had no choice but to take a first-principles approach. It didn’t make life easy, but it led to unique discoveries with broad applications in the broader field of biotechnology,” says Bollag
The company is built on Nobel Prize-winning science: induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
iPSCs allow turning any animal cell sampled just once through a non-invasive biopsy back into its pluripotent state.
This approach enables the company to quickly reach price parity with conventional meat, scale faster, and create safer, healthier products, opening up a much wider global market than its competitors.
Uncommon claims its meat products offer a promising future in meeting humanity’s protein needs without the environmental toll associated with traditional livestock farming.
These innovative products require only a fraction of animal resources.
“Once achieved at scale, Uncommon products will be able to be delivered faster than farm-reared meat, providing quality food to consumers worldwide,” says the company.
Uncommon aims to own 5 per cent of the global pork market by 2035.
The investor
Balderton Capital is a multistage venture firm with over two decades of experience supporting Europe’s most promising founders from seed to IPO.
The VC has both early and growth funds and invests across the technology sector. It has a proven track record backing fintech, B2B SaaS, digital health, mobility, gaming, and marketplace companies.
Daniel Waterhouse, Partner at Balderton Capital, says, “The cultivated meat industry faces significant challenges, from materials costs to regulation and scaling. We’re convinced that Uncommon has the formula to become a global leader that will transform how we eat and enjoy meat.”
Dr Clea Kolster, Partner at Lowercarbon, says, “The meat industry is one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions globally and industrial production is also tied to infectious diseases like Swine Fever and Bird Flu. Uncommon is on a mission to build a healthier future by leveraging RNA technologies to create cultivated pork belly and bacon, which could produce up to 52% fewer carbon emissions per pound than traditional pork.”
“We need more founders with the vision and drive of Benjamina if we are to transform the way we eat and reduce the environmental impact of the meat industry for good,” adds Kolster.
