比尔·盖茨与理查德·布兰森都投资了这家人造肉初创公司

人造肉或“干净”肉初创公司Memphis Meats在上周三上午宣布完成A轮融资，共融得1,700万美元。到目前为止，这家公司共融资2,200万美元。

此轮融资由风险投资公司德丰杰领投。嘉吉、比尔·盖茨和理查德·布兰森，以及欧洲风投基金Atomico、New Crop Capital、SOSV、Fifty Years、KBW Ventures、Inevitable Ventures、苏茜·韦尔奇、凯尔·沃格特和卡姆巴·穆斯克等也参与了投资。另外有多家研究机构也参与了这轮融资。

Memphis Meats虽然尚未实现产品商业化，但其已经开始用动物细胞培养除牛肉、鸡肉和鸭肉。这家公司用氧、糖和其他营养物质“喂养”动物活细胞，在罐子里培养出肉。

Alternative or "clean" meat startup Memphis Meats announced Wednesday morning that it has completed a $17 million Series A fundraising round. The company has now raised $22 million to date.

The round was led by venture capital firm DFJ. Cargill, Bill Gates, and Richard Branson also invested, as did European venture capital fund Atomico, New Crop Capital, SOSV, Fifty Years, KBW Ventures, Inevitable Ventures, Suzy Welch, Kyle Vogt, and Kimbal Musk. Several research institutions also joined the round.

Memphis Meats has yet to commercialize a product but has produced beef, chicken, and duck from animal cells. The company grows meat in tanks by feeding oxygen, sugar, and other nutrients to living animal cells.

除了为这家公司提供支持和资金的名人外，此轮融资对其尤为重要的是嘉吉的加入。食品行业的其他部门，如乳制品行业，一直抵制将杏仁奶等替代动物制品主流化，而嘉吉参与此轮融资，表明肉制品行业可能会做出不同的选择。例如，泰森也投资了这个领域，其投资的是植物人造肉公司Beyond Meat。

Cargill Protein的成长风投总裁桑亚·麦卡勒姆·罗伯茨在一份声明中表示：“我们致力于发展我们的传统蛋白质业务和投资创新的新型蛋白质，最终为我们的客户提供丰富的商品。Memphis Meats有潜力为我们的客户和消费者提供更多蛋白质选择，符合我们的使命，即以安全、负责任和可持续的方式为全世界提供营养所需。”

目前有越来越多财力雄厚的公司正在探索制作非动物性肉类，位于旧金山湾区的Memphis Meats只是其中之一。这些初创公司和投资者的动力来源于消费者对动物福利、健康和肉类环境足迹的担忧。Memphis Meats称其工艺占用的土地，仅有传统畜牧业的1%，需水量仅有传统畜牧业的10%。

Memphis Meats等公司正在尝试复制肉类细胞的时候，另一些公司则在研究使用植物复制肉类的口味。这些植物类人造肉公司，如Impossible Foods和Beyond Meat等，也引起了投资界的广泛兴趣。例如，比尔·盖茨便曾投资Impossible Foods。

Memphis Meats计划将此轮融资用于产品研发、加快规模化和人员招聘。目前，该公司实现商业化的最大障碍之一是生产成本 — 公司表示也会在这方面投入资金。 （财富中文网）

译者：刘进龙/汪皓

In addition to the bold-faced names who have lent their support and dollars to the company, the round was significant for its inclusion of Cargill. While other parts of the food industry, such as dairy, have resisted the mainstreaming of animal product alternatives like almond milk, the move by Cargill shows the meat sector may be taking a different approach. Tyson, for example, has also invested in the sector, backing plant-based meat company Beyond Meat.

“We are committed to growing our traditional protein business and investing in innovative new proteins to ultimately provide a complete basket of goods to our customers,” said Sonya McCullum Roberts, president of growth ventures for Cargill Protein, in a statement. "Memphis Meats has the potential to provide our customers and consumers with expanded protein choices and is aligned with our mission to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way."

San Francisco Bay-area based Memphis Meats is part of a growing cohort of well-funded companies that are on a quest to make meat without animals. The startups and their investors are motivated by consumer concerns about animal welfare, health, and the environmental footprint of meat. Memphis Meats has said its process uses about 1% of the land and 10% of the water needed for conventional animal agriculture.

While some of the companies in the space —such as Memphis Meats — are trying to replicate meat cells, others have pursued a path to replicate the taste of meat with plants. These plant-based alternatives, such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, have also garnered significant interest from the investment community. Bill Gates, for example, has also invested Impossible Foods.

Memphis Meats plans to use the funds for product development, to speed up its scaling, and for staffing. Right now, one of the significant hurdles to commercialization is cost of production—something the company said it would also put the funds toward.