UPSIDE Foods
Develops cultivated meat directly from animal cells using biotechnology, aiming to produce sustainable meat products without raising or slaughtering animals.
- CEO / Founder
- Uma Valeti
- Team Size
- 51-200
- Stage
- Active
- Total Funding
- $608M
- Latest Round
- Series C
- Key Investors
- Temasek; Abu Dhabi Growth Fund; Baillie Gifford; Givaudan; John Doerr; SALT Fund; Synthesis Capital; Bill Gates; Cargill; Cercano Management; CPT Capital; Dentsu Ventures; EDBI; Kimbal and Christiana Musk; Norwest Venture Partners; SoftBank Vision Fund 2; SOSV's IndieBio; Tyson Foods; Richard Branson; Threshold Ventures
Technology & Products
Key Products
Cultivated chicken (whole-textured and ground), cultivated beef, cultivated duck. Completed first-ever consumer sale of cultivated meat in the United States and expanded commercial product portfolio to include ground-textured cultivated meat products.
Technological Advantage
Proprietary cell culture and differentiation processes enable production of structured meat products; first US company to receive FDA approval for cultivated chicken (2021).
Differentiation
Value Proposition
Reduces environmental impact of meat production by using 90% less land and water than conventional methods, while offering a humane and clean meat alternative with potential for on-demand production.
How They Differentiate
First-mover advantage with early breakthroughs and regulatory approvals; strong investor backing from major food and tech firms; focuses on multiple meat types (beef, chicken, duck).
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Foodservice, retail consumers, and meat producers seeking sustainable alternatives
Industry Verticals
Food Technology; Agriculture; Biotechnology
Competitors
Aleph Farms; Mosa Meat; GOOD Meat
Growth & Milestones
Growth Metrics
Raised over $180 million total; production capacity scalable to 50,000 lbs/year; first FDA approval for cultivated chicken in US.
Major Milestones
World's first cultivated beef meatball (2016); World's first cultivated chicken and duck (2017); $161M Series B funding (2020); FDA approval for cultivated chicken (2021); Rebranded to UPSIDE Foods (2021)
Notable Customers
Bar Crenn (San Francisco restaurant by three-Michelin-star chef Dominique Crenn) - first restaurant to serve UPSIDE's cultivated chicken