Cultivated Meat Startup Secures €2.4 Million EU Grant

Israeli startup ProFuse Technology, which cultivates meat from cells, has received a €2.4 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Transition program in recognition of its innovative technology. 

The company was given the grant, which is funded by the European Union, after a selection process involving hundreds of applicants. 

Earlier this year, ProFuse unveiled a new cultivated meat made from cells from bovine muscle tissue earlier called PROFUSE-B8. It is now working on developing cultivated meat from different animal muscle tissues, including chicken, pork, lamb and fish.

ProFuse said the grant will allow it to scale up production of its technology, move ahead with regulatory approval processes and advance its partnerships with other companies in the cultivated meat industry. 

“ProFuse’s technology, including media supplements and muscle cell-lines, enables significant cost reduction in cultivated meat production, while simultaneously enhancing its nutritional value, texture, and taste,” said ProFuse Technology’s CTO and co-founder Dr. Tamar Eigler Hirsh. 

“This grant will allow us to further refine our technology to support large-scale cultivated meat production,” she said.  

ProFuse is based in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, which in recent years has become a hub for foodtech startups. But the city, which is located just 2km from the border with Lebanon, was evacuated following the massive October 7 terror attack by Hamas in southern Israel amid constant shelling by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization.