Poland’s first cultivated meat startup, LabFarm, has received over PLN 9 million (around €2 million) from the National Centre for Research and Development (NCRD), the executive agency of the Polish Ministry of Education and Science co-financing R&D projects at the intersection of science and business.
Founded in 2022 by molecular biologist Stanisław Łoboziak (CTO) and entrepreneur Wiesław Macherzyński (COO) in Warsaw’s Wilanów district, LabFarm focuses on cultivated chicken. The company is privately owned, and reportedly, its leading investor is Jarosław Krzyżanowski, president of KPS Food, an advanced poultry plant in Poland.
“Poland is joining the ranks of countries investing in alternative protein sources to ensure food security in Europe”
The grant will enable LabFarm to optimize bioprocesses, scale up production, work on proprietary growth media, develop products, and expand its team, the startup announced.
The nonprofit organization ProVeg International and the think tank Good Food Institute Europe have welcomed Poland’s investment in cultivated meat.
Marcin Tischner, Public Affairs Coordinator at ProVeg Poland, shared, “We are delighted that Poland is joining the ranks of countries investing in alternative protein sources to ensure food security in Europe. The success of LabFarm is an example of how strategic initiatives and support can lead to real change in the food industry.”
GFI Europo posted, “Government funding like this is hugely important to help support the growth of a flourishing startup ecosystem for cultivated meat in Poland and beyond.”
© LabFarm
Cultivated chicken meatballs
In June 2023, the company presented its prototype, a cultivated chicken meatball, at the New Food Forum organized by ProVeg Poland, which has been actively supporting the cellular agriculture sector through its international platform.
“Science and tradition are not mutually exclusive but complement each other”
Michał Fabiszewski, culinary advisor and head chef at Sodexo Poland and second-place winner in the MasterChef Poland program, created a dish combining tradition with modernity: cultivated chicken meatballs wrapped in reduced vegetable sauce, potatoes, and crunchy cucumber salad with herbs and edible flowers.
“It wasn’t difficult to find inspiration. Science and tradition are not mutually exclusive but complement each other,” he said.
Delicious meat without animals
Now that LabFarm has received a grant and will spend the next two years scaling its platform, the company will develop a prototype of wet animal feed. In Europe, the Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies unveiled its first cultivated meat product for pets at Interzoo, and Meatly, recently received approval for to sell in the UK a cultivated meat ingredient for dogs and cats.
In addition, the young Polish startup, which recently joined the international coalition Cellular Agriculture Europe, says it plans to launch a private label brand to introduce its products to European markets, where the first-ever application for a cultivated meat approval has been made by the French startup Gourmey for a cultivated foie gras product.
“Our objective is to create delicious meat without animal suffering, in other words, to provide consumers with their favorite meat products while minimizing the impact on the environment. We truly believe that modern science and technology can change the world for the better in ways that seemed impossible in the past,” states the company on its website.
