Canada: Cult Food Science forms technology committee
Vancouver-based Cult Food Science Corp, an investment platform focused on cellular agriculture advancing the development of novel technologies to provide sustainable, environmental, and ethical global factory farming and aquaculture, has formed a special committee.
The committee will investigate intellectual property development and investment opportunities for novel air protein and starch synthesis technology, and is headed by Cult president Lejjy Gafour.
Examples of companies working in these areas include Deep Branch Biotechnology and Air Protein. Founded in 2018 and operating in the UK and the Netherlands, Deep Branch’s proprietary CO₂-to-protein platform is harnessing the power of microbes to convert clean carbon dioxide and hydrogen into high-quality ingredients to support a more sustainable food system.
Founded in 2019 as a subsidiary of Kiverdi and based in San Francisco, Air Protein is a research and technology company that is working on the science of carbon transformation to make meat from elements in the air to sustainably feed the future. The company raised US$32 million last year in a Series A round of financing from a group of investors led by ADM Ventures, Barclays and GV (formerly Google Ventures).
The company also announced it has appointed Dr Rolf Smeets and Dr Guru Ramanathan to its advisory board. Smeets has more than 22 years’ experience in the specialised nutrition industry. He is well versed in nutritional supplements, functional food, and medical nutrition and has experience designing science-based nutritional products, testing safety and efficacy in clinical trials, and commercial strategy.
Ramanathan is an adjunct professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the medical management and nutrition sectors and has conducted a wide range of speciality work in areas including clinical trials management, consumer healthcare product development and manufacturing, management of technology in healthcare, disease management, and has rich healthcare experience in international and developing markets.
