Aleph Farms Completes $105 Million Series B Funding Round

Leader in sustainable, cultivated meat will use funds to scale-up manufacturing and grow operations internationally ahead of initial market launch in 2022

Rehovot, Israel, July 7, 2021 – Aleph Farms, the cultivated meat company growingsteaks directly from non-genetically modified animal cells, has announced thecompletion of a $105 million Series B funding round. The funding round was led by theGrowth Fund of L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm, andDisruptAD, one of the largest venture platforms in the Middle East. It also sawparticipation from Skyviews Life Science, as well as a consortium of leading global foodand meat companies including Thai Union, BRF, and CJ CheilJedang. Additionally,existing investors, including VisVires New Protein, Strauss Group, Cargill, PeregrineVentures, and CPT Capital, participated in the Series B funding round. To date, theCompany has raised more than $118 million.

The Company will use the funds to execute its plans for large scale globalcommercialization of cultivated beef steaks and portfolio expansion. Near-termmilestones include scaling-up manufacturing, growing operations internationally, andexpanding its product lines and technology platform ahead of Aleph Farms’ initial marketlaunch in 2022. The Company is currently working with regulatory agencies on its plansfor market entry.

DisruptAD’s investment in Aleph Farms will also help bolster Abu Dhabi’s long-termfocus on food resilience. As a strategic partner to DisruptAD, Aleph Farms will evaluatethe establishment of a manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi to supply its cultivated meatproducts across the UAE and the broader GCC region.

“We are thrilled to grow our relationships with existing partners, and welcome select newinvestors in this funding round,” said Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of AlephFarms. “This additional capital from top-tier partners with unparalleled experience andexpertise brings us significantly closer to our vision of providing secure andunconditional access to high-quality nutrition to anyone, anytime, anywhere. We see ourinvestors as partners for building this new category of meat and it was critical to us thatthey share our strong commitment to improving the sustainability of our global foodsystems.”

Michael Farello, a Managing Partner at L Catterton’s Growth Fund, said, "Withcultivated whole-muscle cut steaks, an optimized platform for cost parity at scale, and aglobal partnership network with the world’s largest meat producers, Aleph Farms hasdifferentiated itself as the leading cultivated meat company poised to go to market. Weare excited to support their success as they prepare for global launch, and we lookforward to leveraging our significant expertise in food and sustainable businesses thatmeet the needs of a changing consumer and a changing world.”

Mansour AlMulla welcomed Aleph Farms on behalf of DisruptAD as its first Israel-based partner, and said: “Our partnership with Aleph Farms underpins our long-termdesire to accelerate the path for technology pioneers and change leaders that arebuilding technologies of tomorrow.”

Mayank Singhal, speaking on behalf of DisruptAD, added “Our belief is that the futureof food will be built around evolved consumer choices and a redressal of climateconcerns, with Aleph playing a central role in shaping this agenda across globalmarkets. We are delighted to partner with them.”

About Aleph FarmsAleph Farms grows beef steaks, from non-genetically engineered cells isolated froma living cow, without harming animals and with a significantly reduced impact to theenvironment. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The KitchenHub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the BiomedicalEngineering Faculty at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The company’sSeries A funding round was led by VisVires New Protein, with participation fromPeregrine Ventures and Strauss Group, as well as other leading global food andmeat companies including Cargill and M-Industry. For more information, please visitwww.aleph-farms.com.

About L CattertonWith approximately $30 billion of equity capital across its fund strategies and 17 officesaround the world, L Catterton is the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm.L Catterton's team of nearly 200 investment and operating professionals partners with management teams around the world to implement strategic plans to foster growth,leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad partnershipnetwork. Since 1989, the firm has made over 250 investments in leading consumerbrands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit www.lcatterton.com.

About DisruptADDisruptAD is ADQ’s venture capital platform. Its activities include investments in start-ups and venture capital funds, as well as the creation of new incubators andaccelerators to support Abu Dhabi’s evolution as a global start-up destination andaccelerate the development of its innovation ecosystem. DisruptAD invests across theUAE as well as other global markets including the Middle East and North Africa region,India, China, South East Asia and the United States. The platform aims to support andnurture over 1,000 start-ups by 2025.