Brief: Motif FoodWorks assets up for sale in online auction

An online auction for the assets of Boston-based foodtech startup Motif FoodWorks will start next week.

According to auctioneer New Mill Capital, equipment available in the “multi-million-dollar plant-based protein laboratory and production equipment sale” includes “new and like new meat alternative laboratory and process equipment” from fermenters to a mass spectrometer.

Motif—best-known for its meaty tasting heme proteins produced via precision fermentation—told staff it would be closing down in early September but has not commented publicly on the decision.

A high-profile player in the alt protein field, Motif FoodWorks was spun off from Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019 on a mission to elevate meat and dairy alternatives with high impact, low-inclusion ingredients.

The company, which raised a $226 million series B round in 2021 when money was cheap and interest in alternative proteins was high, struggled to navigate the more challenging environment that followed, with investor sentiment souring on meat alternatives amid declining retail sales.

Litigation with Impossible Foods over the use of heme proteins in alt meat also “hurt a lot of the potential of the business and pretty much killed it,” according to one source close to the company.

“Once the lawsuit hit, Motif’s commercial progress came to a halt. As hard as the company tried to work around that lawsuit, commercial partners were too afraid of the implications of the lawsuit.

“Combine that with the slowdown in alt meat, spending huge dollars on a lawsuit, Motif had no option but to turn inward and stop investment. Impossible took a “scorched earth” approach to put Motif out of business and won. But the only winners here were the lawyers.”