Edge Foods 🧪

Cell-nurturing powder to create recombinant proteins

Author

Brett Perlmutter
December 05, 2023

Setting the Scene

  • Lab-grown meat promises a future of ethical eating, but there's a catch: the protein synthesis used in growing this meat is often either unethical or inefficient.

    • Unethical: Traditionally, proteins are extracted from animals, a process that actually harms them.

    • Inefficient: An alternative method involves using bacteria to create proteins, but this generates unnecessary byproducts, complicating and increasing the cost of the process.

  • This week’s company delivers an innovative solution to synthesize proteins for lab-grown meat and other cultured products efficiently and humanely.

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In a Sentence


Edge Foods is a biotechnology company that manufactures a cell-nurturing powder to create recombinant proteins used in cultured meat and cosmetics.

  • Recombinant proteins: Proteins that are artificially made to facilitate cell growth in a lab setting.

  • Cultured meat and cosmetics: Provides a sustainable and cheap alternative to conventional meat and cosmetic production without compromising ethical standards.

Bulleted version: Recombinant proteins trigger cell cultivation the way baking soda is key to sweet treats; Edge Foods manufactures an affordable and efficient ‘baking soda.’ 🧁

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The Basics

  • Industry: Biotechnology

  • Headquarters: New York, NY 🗽

  • Year founded: 2022

  • Employee count: 3

  • Investors: SOSV IndieBio NY, Ecosphere VC, Columbia Venture Community

  • Currently raising: $880k in pre-seed funding, with $580k already committed

  • Business model: B2B (sell product to cultivated food and skincare brands)

  • Early traction: 41 customer discussions leading to 19 sample requests (9 tied to LOIs)

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

  • At Escalon, it is a core belief that simplifying your processes to free up time allows you to concentrate on what truly matters: the growth of your business.

  • Escalon’s range of essential business services provides support and expertise to streamline your operations and drive success.

    • Their PeopleOps solution provides outsourced HR, payroll, benefits management services, and more.

    • Their FinOps solution offers comprehensive financial support, strategy, and implementation services, including real-time finance and fundraising guidance, accounting, report creation, and tax support.

    • Their Risk solution prepares your company to manage and mitigate risk with the right-sized insurance options, policies, and procedures.

  • Ready to take the next step?

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Due Diligence

WHAT WE LIKE

  • 📈 Market opportunity: The market size for cultured meat alone is valued at $221M and is expected to double within the next few years.

    • Edge’s cost-effective and sustainable approach to protein production allows the company to work with other industries like cosmetics, dairy, and biopharma.

  • 😅 Cost efficiency: By reducing the usual 60-80% of production costs tied to Growth Factors, Edge Foods offers significant savings in the industry, streamlining both time and financial resources.

  • 🌱 Sustainable future: With the global population continuing to climb, Edge Foods is positioned to address the growing need for sustainable meat, contributing to the forecast that one in every ten meat portions will be an alternative source by 2035.

POTENTIAL RISKS

  • ⚠️ Customer caution: Despite offering cost-effective alternatives, Edge Foods may face slow adoption rates due to customer caution around new biotechnologies, potentially leading to extended testing periods and longer sales cycles.

  • 😳 Innovation from the big players: What’s preventing well-established, well-funded companies in the cultured meat sector from innovating their own protein production methods to reduce costs?

  • ⚖️ Regulatory Challenges: Navigating FDA approvals and ensuring compliance with biotech and food production regulations could present significant hurdles for Edge Foods, impacting their product's time-to-market and overall adoption.

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Founder Profile

  • Manny Tamargo, Co-founder & CEO: PhD in tissue engineering from Columbia University.

To request an introduction to the founder, respond to this email.

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Comps

Why Edge Foods: Positioned to revolutionize both the cultured meat and cosmetics industries, Edge Foods manufactures an affordable, sustainable, and high-quality solution for protein cultivation, giving them a distinct edge in the market. 🧪

📌 Bulletin Board

  • 🗞 This week in venture: November was a strong month for big funding with several $100 million-plus rounds not even cracking the top 10 list.

  • 💡 The innovation situation: The launch of Open AI’s GPT store, think Apple’s App Store for Chat GPT, has been delayed.

🗳 Cast Your Vote

Would you invest in Edge Foods?

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Last Week Today

  • The results are in: Frich, a financial literacy app that bridges the gap between banks, brands, and the next generation of spenders, was narrowly favored by readers.

  • Subscriber feedback: “While there’s clearly a huge market, great business model, and need to better financial literacy for Gen Z, I’m not sure if there are enough incentives to maintain user retention.”

✍️ Written by Brett