Cultivated meat startup Believer Meats—which is in the unique position of having both a large-scale production facility and regulatory approval to sell its wares in the U.S.—has ceased operations, its HR director has confirmed.
In a LinkedIn post penned two days after AgFunderNews revealed that the company is being sued by a vendor for more than $34 million in unpaid bills, global HR & talent leader Anne Schubert explained: “After two years of building something truly bold and special, Believer Meats made the difficult decision last week to cease operations.
“While the outcome is not what any of us hoped for, I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished together.”
The post did not explain what went wrong and the company has not responded to requests for comment in recent days.
‘ It’s terrible news for them and the entire cultivated meat sector’
Believer Meats (formerly Future Meat Technologies) has operations in Israel and the U.S., and is the fifth cultivated meat startup to secure an FDA “no questions” letter confirming the safety of its products.
It has also secured a grant of inspection and label sign-off from USDA. This gives it the green light to launch products in the US from the North Carolina plant, which bioprocess partner GEA said in late 2024 has the “capacity to produce at least 12,000 metric tons (26m lbs) of cultivated chicken annually.”
One of the top-funded players in the industry after raising a $347 million Series B round in 2021, Believer Meats’ backers include ADM Ventures, the Menora Mivtachim pension and insurance fund, S2G Investments, Tyson Ventures, Rich Products Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, Cibus Capital, and Bits x Bites.
As the only cultivated-meat company with a large-scale plant, many in the sector have looked to Believer as the bellwether that might prove the tech can work at scale, reigniting investor interest, one industry source told AgFunderNews. “It’s such a shame as they have the trifecta: FDA approval, USDA approval, and a full-size plant, so it’s terrible news for them and the entire cultivated meat sector.”
AMPS: ‘Temporary setbacks, while unfortunate, do not represent the whole’
However, it would be a mistake to say this means the segment is doomed, insisted Suzi Gerber, executive director at the Association for Meat Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS), which represents key players in the nascent space.
“It is important to view this news within the broader context of an industry that has made remarkable progress in a short period of time. 2025 was a banner year for the cultivated meat industry.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen new regulatory approvals across multiple regions including many in the U.S. More companies than ever are advancing through trusted food-safety pathways, and cultivated meat and seafood is now being served to consumers in a growing number of restaurants around the world. These milestones demonstrate strong scientific rigor, growing culinary interest, and clear public-sector recognition of the category’s potential.”
She added: “Like many new industries and emerging technologies, cultivated meat is evolving in a landscape that demands significant capital, long-term R&D, and policy environments that support innovation. Early-stage companies in other transformative sectors—such as renewable energy, biotech, and electric vehicles—faced similar challenges early on before reaching maturity.
“Temporary setbacks, while unfortunate, do not represent the whole and thus should not overshadow the momentum, resilience, and collaboration that continue to characterize our industry. In a breakthrough industry, not all companies will stand the test of time, but the strong and dedicated companies in our industry continue to move forward and blaze their trails.”
MVP…
David Ziskind, managing partner at Mach Global Advisors, which helps companies plan for and execute capital projects, told AgFunderNews that he couldn’t comment on Believer’s specific issues or financial circumstances but said that, “I do like the bold step of building commercial scale facility, as ultimately this is needed to prove out the technology at scale and supply the market.
“But in this infrastructure heavy space, first movers will likely bear the brunt of it, even as their steps ultimately advance the industry.”
He added: “It is unfortunate that this news comes on the heels of such positive momentum for Believer, and they are so close, having just finished construction of their flagship facility.
“I’m always thinking ‘MVF’…minimum viable facility…food safe, functional, right sized, with room for expansion. Given the facility and equipment, I have to imagine the right capital partner will come along, and hopefully it can be put to good use. This reiterates the importance of strategic facility planning, having the right capital project team experience, and careful selection of an EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] partner.”
Where next for the sector?
While funding for many agrifoodtech segments has fallen sharply since early 2022 as generalists have fled the sector, private capital going into cultivated meat has almost dried up. AgFunder data show that funding peaked at $989 million in 2021, dipped to $807 million in 2022, $177 million in 2023, $55 million in 2024 (excluding an undisclosed sum raised by Hoxton Farms), and $65 million in 2025.
Against this backdrop, firms have been slashing headcount, consolidating, and in some cases, calling it quits (click here and here).
That said, there have been some positive announcements over the past year, with Sydney-based Vow securing regulatory approvals in Australia and New Zealand and proving its tech at 20,000-liter scale with positive margins.
Meanwhile, US-based Clever Carnivore claimed it could produce cell culture media for just 7 cents a liter at pilot scale, and that a demo-scale plant costing $4.5 million could be “profitable in its first year of full production.”
UK-based Meatly, which focuses on the petfood market, has developed a patent-pending low-cost bioreactor in-house and brought media costs down to 22p/liter, a number Ensor claims could get down to just 2p/L with economies of scale.
More to follow…
Further reading:
Exclusive: Cultivated meat co Believer Meats sued by design build firm for $34m in unpaid bills
