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A Food Safety News Sunday Edition looks back at the cultivated-meat investment boom and the subsequent shutdowns of several startups, including Believer Meats. The report links the setbacks to difficulties raising capital and the high costs and long timelines of commercial production; it does not establish that the sector has ended or that all companies face the same prospects.
Several cultivated-meat startups shut down in 2025 after a period of heavy investment, according to an October 2026 Food Safety News Sunday Edition report. The closures, including that of Believer Meats after it built a large North Carolina facility, underscore the gap between investor expectations and the time and expense involved in bringing cell-grown meat to market.
The report says cultured meat and seafood companies attracted more than $2.5 billion from 2021 through 2023, citing the Good Food Institute. It says that figure may be an underestimate because investment was moving quickly and was difficult to track. By 2023, roughly half of venture-capital funding went to five companies named in the report: Upside Foods, Believer Meats, Wildtype, Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat. Sovereign wealth funds, Tyson Foods and JBS were also among the sources of investment.
The report lists several closures in late 2025. Netherlands-based Meatable ceased operations after acquiring Uncommon Bio’s cultivated-meat platform, while UK company CellRev said it would shut down after failing to meet commercial milestones in time to secure investment. Dutch startup Upstream Foods, which was developing cultivated fish fat, also closed after it could not raise the capital it needed, according to the report.
Believer Meats’ closure was a prominent setback. The company had completed a $125 million plant near Raleigh, North Carolina, described in the report as a 200,000-square-foot facility equipped with bioreactors and centrifuges. Despite U.S. government approval, the company stopped operating after losing a major financial backer and failing to obtain a last-minute loan, the report says. It had not produced cultivated meat at the facility before closing.
Why the Funding Gap Matters
The closures matter because cultivated meat has been presented as a potential way to produce meat from animal cells rather than raising and slaughtering animals for each product. The report describes a process in which cells taken from an animal are grown in a nutrient medium inside a bioreactor. That is the production model the sector hoped to scale, but a working concept does not by itself establish that products can be made affordably or at commercial volumes.
The main challenge described is commercial scale: facilities and bioreactors require substantial capital, while energy and specialized nutrient solutions add operating costs. The report says venture-capital funds often seek large returns within five to seven years, while commercial viability for cultivated meat may be at least a decade away or longer. That mismatch can leave companies needing additional funding before they have a mature market or steady sales.
For readers, the distinction is between regulatory approval and a viable business. Believer Meats had U.S. government approval, according to the report, but that did not prevent its closure before production began. The reported setbacks could affect how quickly consumers see cultivated meat on sale, but they do not establish that every company in the field will fail or that development has stopped.
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From Cell Samples to Factory Plans
Interest in cultivated meat surged around 2021, after years of investment in startups aiming to grow meat from animal cells. The concept has older roots: Food Safety News quotes a 1931 essay by Winston Churchill, who imagined producing chicken parts separately rather than raising a whole bird. Modern ventures sought to turn that idea into a food-manufacturing process using animal cells, growth media and bioreactors.
The investment figures provide a measure of the sector’s earlier expectations, not proof that products had reached mass-market economics. The report says capital came from venture investors as well as government-linked funds and established meat companies. It then contrasts that funding surge with companies’ difficulty reaching commercial milestones and securing the next round of financing.
The Sunday Edition also includes other food-safety developments, including responses to a summer Cyclospora outbreak and new European food-monitoring data. Those items are separate from its cultivated-meat report; the cited material does not connect the outbreak developments to cultivated meat.
“We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.”
— Winston Churchill, quoted by Food Safety News from his 1931 essay “Fifty Years Hence”
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Costs, Timelines and Survivors
The report does not provide current financial accounts, production forecasts or updated operating plans for each cultivated-meat company still active. It also does not establish how many firms have closed across the entire sector, or whether the named shutdowns represent a broader pattern that will continue.
Commercial viability remains an estimate, not a fixed date. The report says it may be a decade or longer, but does not specify which products, markets or production costs would mark viability. It also does not give comparative figures for cultivated meat’s energy use, final retail prices or environmental effects. The closures show that several companies could not continue under their circumstances; they do not by themselves settle the technology’s long-term prospects.
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The Route to Commercial Production
The next test for surviving companies is whether they can secure enough financing to continue development, meet manufacturing milestones and demonstrate production at a scale and cost that can support sales. The report does not identify a specific upcoming industry-wide milestone or provide a timetable for new product launches.
Readers can expect the picture to depend on company-level disclosures about funding, facility operations, regulatory status and production plans. Until those details emerge, the confirmed story is one of major earlier investment followed by notable closures—not a final verdict on whether cultivated meat can become a commercially established food category.
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Key Questions
What happened to cultivated-meat companies in 2025?
Food Safety News reports that several startups, including Meatable, CellRev and Upstream Foods, ceased operations in late 2025. Believer Meats also shut down after losing a major financial backer and failing to secure a last-minute loan.
How much investment did the sector attract?
The report cites the Good Food Institute as saying cultivated-meat and seafood companies attracted more than $2.5 billion from 2021 through 2023. It says the total may be an underestimate; the source does not provide a more exact amount.
Why did some startups close?
The reasons cited include difficulty raising capital and failing to meet commercial milestones in time to attract investment. The report also describes high facility, energy and nutrient-solution costs and a long path to expected market viability.
Does Believer Meats’ closure mean cultivated meat is no longer being developed?
No. The report describes the closure of Believer Meats and other named startups, but it does not say that all cultivated-meat companies have stopped operating or that development across the sector has ended.
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