Cambridge-based company Uncommon has unveiled its groundbreaking approach to cellular agriculture, which not only accelerates the availability of cultured meat but also ensures price parity with traditional meat products. This innovative method allows for faster scaling and the creation of safer, healthier alternatives, all without the need for gene editing. Uncommon’s approach opens up vast opportunities in the global market, surpassing its competitors.
By leveraging Nobel Prize-winning research and pioneering biomimicry, Uncommon has developed an exceptional technology that constructs complex proteins and fats, delivering authentic flavor and numerous nutritional benefits. Unlike conventional methods, Uncommon’s approach eliminates the reliance on antibiotics, animal products, and toxic small molecules, significantly reducing the raw materials required for alternative protein production.
Founder and CEO of Uncommon, Benjamina Bollag, explains that the company’s mission is rooted in understanding the profound impact that diets and food choices have on our health. By utilizing RNA technologies, Uncommon believes it possesses a competitive edge in the cultivated meat industry, envisioning itself as the leading protein company globally. With continued support from new and existing investors, Uncommon aims to build upon its progress and make a substantial impact on global health.
Uncommon asserts that once its products are produced at scale, they will be more readily available than conventionally reared meat, ensuring consumers worldwide have access to quality food. The company’s unique and adaptable technology heralds a cost-efficient future for cellular agriculture, bypassing regulatory obstacles and delivering sustainable and delectable products through cellular alchemy.
Furthermore, Uncommon highlights the urgency to address the excessive use of antibiotics in pig farming, particularly in China, where over a third of the world’s total antibiotics are employed. Antibiotic resistance is predicted to cause more fatalities than cancer by 2050. Cultivated meat offers a sustainable solution to this critical issue. Uncommon aims to capture 5% of the global pork market by 2035 and anticipates the cultivated meat sector to reach a value of $427 billion by 2040. Currently, regulatory approval has only been granted in Singapore and the US.
Uncommon is well-positioned to disrupt the meat industry, surpassing the plant-based market that has struggled to fully sway consumers. To support its development, the company has secured $30 million in Series A funding, bringing the total raised to $35 million. These funds will be used to further decrease the cost of goods, seek regulatory approval, and expand production at its pilot manufacturing facility in Cambridge Technopark. Uncommon also plans to double its team within the next 18 months to enhance its capabilities.
Balderton and Lowercarbon led the Series A funding round, with participation from Red Alpine, East Alpha, and previous investors Max and Sam Altman, Miray Zaki, and Sebastiano Castiglioni. Daniel Waterhouse, Partner at Balderton, expressed confidence in Uncommon’s potential to transform the way we consume meat, highlighting the company’s ability to overcome challenges in the cultivated meat industry, such as material costs, regulation, and scaling.
