SCiFi Foods Rebrands, Expands Board of Directors, & Emerges from Stealth
Company formerly called Artemys Foods announces a new name, a $22M Series A financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz, and the addition of former Tesla/Impossible Foods executive to its board
SAN FRANCISCO, June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Bay Area-based food tech startup, SCiFi Foods, previously known to the world as Artemys Foods, announced today it has rebranded not only its look, but its official name as well. Additionally, the company has released the name of its newest board member, Myra Pasek, who serves as general counsel at Iron Ox, an agtech startup combining AI and robotics to improve the sustainability of agriculture. Pasek's prior experience includes executive roles at Impossible Foods and Tesla, brands synonymous with futuristic innovation. Since its founding, SCiFi Foods has raised $29 million, including a $22 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
SCiFi Foods is tackling the enormous challenge of bringing cultivated meat to market at an affordable price. Companies and funding in this space have been growing rapidly in recent years. However, SCiFi stands apart from the rest because of its unique approach in using bioengineering to accomplish the massive challenge of growing meat from animal cells, both at large-scale and at an affordable cost. It will first be launching a product that combines plant-based meat with real cultivated beef cells, enabling a significantly better taste than traditional plant-based burgers, at a fraction of the cost of 100% cultured meat. Additionally, the company has just recently released its new branding and name, SCiFi Foods.
"We've devised the technology to grow real meat without the need for an animal — an astounding feat. This innovation is the future we once only imagined could be a reality. I believe it's important to be open and authentic about what we're doing, and our new name reflects exactly that. Consumers value transparency, and I would rather be bold than hide behind a bland, corporate moniker," said Joshua March, CEO and co-founder. He continued, "As a company creating food, there are two things we absolutely can never compromise on: trust as a brand and the taste of our products."
The funding will be used to continue the company's substantial R&D efforts, along with new marketing strategies, as well as hiring additional talent. Continued CTO and co-founder, Kasia Gora, PhD., "We've accomplished an extraordinary amount in just over two years and I'm immensely proud of the world-class team and platform we've built. Since last April, the pace of our R&D has truly been unprecedented and we have already achieved tremendous, groundbreaking results. We're grateful to have such incredible investors like a16z and advisors like Myra on this journey with us."
Andreessen has invested in some of the most iconic brands in the last twenty years including Airbnb, Facebook, Lyft, and Pinterest — just to name a few. It's built a well-deserved reputation for picking the winners and backing them at an early stage. General Partner, Vijay Pande, who led the investment for Andreessen, felt there were a number of reasons why SCiFi Foods was unique in its space and a fit for the fund. He added, "Cultivated meat will disrupt the trillion-dollar global market for meat products, with huge benefits to the planet. However, there are major cost hurdles, and SCiFi's technology and approach was the first we felt that truly has the potential to both scale quickly and to drastically reduce cost."
SCiFi Foods made its public speaking debut last month at the Reducetarian Summit in San Mateo and will from henceforward be sharing more of its work and news to the press and public. For more information, company updates, and job openings (we're hiring!) please visit: http://www.scififoods.com, or email: [email protected].
About SciFi Foods
SCiFi Foods is creating transformational meat alternatives by combining plant-based and cultivated ground beef cells to make burgers that are drastically closer in taste to the real versions. The company leverages cutting-edge bioengineering and technologies such as CRISPR, to solve the primary obstacles currently keeping cultivated meat from reaching price parity with conventional meat. SCiFi Foods was co-founded by CEO Joshua March, who previously co-founded and led the companies Conversocial and iPlatform, and CTO Kasia Gora, PhD., who, while at Zymergen, pioneered a high-throughput approach to engineering cells. It's raised $29M to date by leading investors including Andreesseen Horowitz, Valor Siren Ventures, BoxGroup, Entree Capital, Prelude Ventures, and more.
Media Contact
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