SavorEat’s 3D Printed Vegan Meat Tech Receives $4.75M Investment

Israel-based SavorEat, founded in 2018, is pioneering a cutting-edge foodtech solution using plant-based alternatives for 3D printed meat. The company has just received $3 million in additional investment at a valuation of $25 million, from the Mor and Meitav Dash investment houses, with an option to invest another $1 million. This is in addition to $1.75 million in funding received just two weeks ago from the Millenium FoodTech Partnership, adding to a total of $4.75 million in funding received by SavorEat this month. The rapidly growing market for meat alternatives is set to reach $140 billion annually by 2029 (10% of the global meat market) from its current $14 billion, as per a Barclays report.

Image courtesy of SavorEat.

The potential of foodtech solutions has drawn investors to companies such as SavorEat, where the latest 3D printing food technology is combined with advanced cooking methods and expertise, to produce a variety of meat solutions that do not impact our planet the way the traditional meat industry does. With SavorEat’s solutions, a patent plant-based formula is used to manufacture food that has the texture, color, smell, taste and nutritional composition of meat (including fat, sinew and fibers), with the possibilities of expanding the solution to other foods as well, including seafood. SavorEat’s meat is manufactured automatically and autonomously by a “robot chef”, eliminating the possibility of contamination by human touch, that also personalizes or adapts the food to individual personal or health preferences.

Image courtesy of SavorEat.

The firm’s manufacturing platform aims to prepare up to eight burgers in six minutes, and these have longer shelf lives, don’t contain gluten, GMO or preservatives, and provide a healthier, more sustainable alternative to traditional meat. In addition, the level of meat personalization SavorEat’s technology offers could revolutionize the foodtech industry, much as Spotify did with music.

What particularly differentiates SavorEat’s solution from that of competition is that its meat is plant-based (cellulose, fats, protein) and it prints and cooks (grill, bake or fry) the meat at the same time, layer by layer, allowing for a high-precision, food product ready to be consumed. With 3D printing, properties of the alt-meat can be modified with high precision (for muscle, fat, all types of cuts, taste, cooking-level, portion-size, and more), and production can be scaled, automated, and customized on-demand for individual consumers or food industry suppliers. The company is pursuing a B2B-only approach initially (targeting restaurant chains) and is looking to test its technology at one of Israel’s biggest burger chains, Burgus Burger Bar, with plans to commercialize in the next two years. The fully-automated technology also opens up the possibility of ready-to-eat highly-customized meat at the push of a button at home, or entirely-digital restaurants without humans operating them.

Founded by Racheli Vizman (CEO), Professor Ido Braslavsky, and Professor Oded Shoseyov (Chief Science Officer) of Hebrew University, who invented the proprietary formula and technology, SavorEat is already one of Israel’s leading start-ups. Indicating how they view the importance of SavorEat’s innovations for the food industry, the Mor investment house stated,

“The food industry from livestock is one of the main reasons for global warming and the main cause of warm gas emissions and damage to the environment, and thus the international interest in reducing pollution and smarter consumption and more nutritious food. Due to this, we believe that there is potential for the development of SavorEat’s delicacies.” and Meitav Dash said, “The ability of the professional team and rapid rate of growth of SavorEat is expected to provide a unique solution to the developing foodtech market. This is a sector with growth potential due to global trends and the way in which food is consumed and we are happy to take part in this revolution.”

Image courtesy of SavorEat

In May earlier this year, the Russian Academy of Sciences discussed the ‘Possibilities of Additive Technologies in the Meat industry: A Review’, highlighting the growing interest and potential for 3D printed meat solutions. The alternative 3D printed meat industry has come a long way since NovaMeat printed the first piece of plant-based meat last year. Innovations have largely focused on developing source materials (animal or plant-based), and mimicking the texture, taste and feel of real meats, while only recently has the focus in alternative 3D printed meats shifted towards addressing critical issues in scalability, production and commercialization.

Image courtesy of SavorEat.

Other alternative meat solutions come from Dutch-based Meatable, Gothenburg-based Mycorena (fungi-derived proteins), Spain-based Natural Machines, Meatech 3D (lab-grown meat for 3D printed steaks), and NovaMeat (plant-based steak). Earlier in July, we interviewed Israel-based Redefine Meat, which is set to launch its plant-derived steak technology next year (its alt-meat claims to have 95% smaller environmental impact, no cholesterol, and is more affordable than true meat alternatives). Aleph Farms, also Israel-based, uses a 3D platform using animal cells to grow alternative meat, and has supplied its technology for food printing in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Just last week, KFC Russia began exploring the potential in cell meat products with 3D bioprinted chicken, and within the next two years, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the next-generation of 3D printed food products, emerge from labs and research centers and enter mainstream restaurants,  fast-food chains, and supermarkets.