Ashton Kutcher Is Latest Celebrity To Invest In Israeli Cultivated Meat Startup

Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher and serial entrepreneur Guy Oseary are leading a collective that will partner with cultivated meat leader MeaTech 3D Ltd. to accelerate the Israeli firm’s growth in developing and commercializing the firm’s proprietary cultured meat production technologies.

The pair, alongside Effie Epstein, are using the vehicle of their 2015 established LA-based Sound Ventures – which describes itself as “dedicated to the next generation of clean, circular, and sustainable businesses” – to back the Ness Ziona-based startup (in central Israel) that is aiming to massively disrupt the traditional meat business, a statement from MeaTech said.

Founded in 2018, MeaTech is developing a sustainable alternative to industrialized animal farming by developing its proprietary cultured meat production processes based on advanced 3D bioprinting and tissue engineering technologies. The company is aiming to be a leader in the clean meat production industry with a variety of different offerings including cultured beef and chicken.

“We are delighted to partner with MeaTech and assist it in its journey to become the market leader in cultured meat production,” Kutcher said. “We are excited about MeaTech’s innovative technologies, which we believe position MeaTech to be the leader in industrial scale production of cultured meat, a key for a more sustainable and clean meat production. We intend to work closely with MeaTech’s management to help MeaTech implement its strategy and achieve its goals and global success by leveraging our marketing, strategic expertise, and network. The engagement with MeaTech is in line with our group’s mission to provide sustainable solutions through company building, investment, and acceleration of companies and technologies across various sustainability domains.”

“We are extremely excited to announce our strategic collaboration with such an entrepreneurial, visionary group,” said Sharon Fima, CEO of MeaTech, “We believe this engagement will help accelerate our journey in becoming the global leader in the cultivated meat industry. We will leverage their expertise and relationships with key industry players to help us propel our strategy, go-to-market activities and brand.”

MeaTech did not disclose specific details of the deal between the company and Sound Ventures.