SavorEat gets $4.8m to grow plant-based 3D-printed food business

Israeli start-up will install a pilot 3D meat printer at a facility of Burgus Burger Bar, the Israeli burger chain, over the next 12 months

SavorEat, an Israeli start-up that combines plant-based ingredients with 3D printing technology, has raised $4.75 million in seed funding, including $3 million from Ori Mor of the Mor Langermann investment bank, and investment company Meitav Dash. The investors value the company at $25 million and committed to an option for an additional $1 million deployed in two stages depending on the company meeting agreed milestones.

The cash injection raised to date includes $1.75 million in seed funding that SavorEat secured two weeks ago from the Millennium Foodtech Partnership, the first R&D partnership on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

SavorEat has been in fundraising mode as it expects to build a pilot 3D meat printer at a facility of Burgus Burger Bar, an Israeli burger chain, over the next 12 months.

Based in Ness Ziona in central Israel, SavorEat was founded in 2018 by serial biotech entrepreneur Racheli Vizman, SavorEat’s chief executive, Ido Braslavsky and Oded Shoseyov, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and inventor of the technology. Shoseyov is SavorEat’s scientific director.

SavorEat’s technology uses proprietary plant-based cellulose combined with other ingredients such as plant-based fats and protein to create a final, cooked product through a 3D printing process.

“The manufacturing process involves three major components: 3D printing, unique extrusion, and innovative technology that allows us to make delicious and tasty meat, cooked and ready for consumption,” Vizman told NutritionInvestor.

Vizman explained that SavorEat has created a binder, which is proprietary plant-based, gluten-free cellulose. The cellulose is combined with other ingredients such as plant-based fats, protein, taste and flavour to make a fully cooked burger.

While SavorEat has entered the market with a business-to-business model, targeting catering companies and professional kitchens, Vizman hinted that future plans include the development of the technology and equipment for a kitchen appliance for consumers to use at home.