Modern Meadow is a Brooklyn-based company that grows meat, fish, and poultry in a science lab by using methods of biofabrication. The process of growing the meat involves small biopsies to be taken from animals, and the procedure leaves the animals unharmed. The process involves starting with living cells, then growing collage protein, and then assembling that into sheet material.
The lab also grows leather that takes less than two weeks to produce. And its CEO, Andras Forgacs, has said that he imagines a future where the majority of leather jackets (and other leather products) are not made from animal skins.
Modern Meadow says that its company solution means that less land will be needed for raising animals, as well as roughly 96 percent less water being needed, 96 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and 45 percent less energy to run the operation is needed.
Modern Meadow spawned from another company, Organovo, of Forgacs' that he founded with his father. Organovo is similar in that it uses 3D printing in order to print human tissue.
Forgacs has already signed deals with global luxury and sports brands in order to provide them with leather that will be crafted using biopsied cells, and therefore no animal harm will be involved in the process. And he says that the leather will be adjustable in that it can be controlled for thickness, strength, stretch, and translucency. It's estimated that the leather products could start arriving in the market as early as 2018.
One of the biggest investors of Modern Meadows has been the investment management tech company Addepar, and its global director of family offices and foundations is Justin Rockefeller. Addepar is said to have about $500 billion in assets.
Modern Meadows has been successful in raising a total of about $53.5 million in funding. They plan to put that funding to good use by scaling-up the business as quickly as possible, expanding their lab, and eventually establishing a foundry or factory.
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Sources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/bi-100-the-creators-business-visionaries-creating-value-for-the-world-2016-6/#-1
http://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2016/10/03/modern-meadow-andras-forgacs-reinventor-upstart100.html
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/40under40/2016/Forgacs
https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2016/10/91710-addepar-500b-assets-salesforce-partnership-launches-open-api/
https://www.ft.com/content/5144467e-8ee3-11e6-a72e-b428cb934b78
https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/28/modern-meadow-raises-40-million-to-grow-leather-without-livestock/