Brno-based startup Mewery, a leader in the development of cultivated meat based on microalgae and animal cells, has recently secured EUR 2.5 million from TAČR based on EICA validating the project and awarded it the Seal of Excellence. Mewery is one of the few Czech companies to have succeeded in this extremely competitive European program.
The funds will accelerate the transition to producing larger kilogram volumes of biomass, a key milestone that Mewery plans to achieve at the turn of this year and next. “This will be a crucial step that will open the way for us to test our technology with meat producers. We are already starting to approach companies that are interested in being among the first to bring a new generation of food to the market,” says startup founder Roman Lauš. Initial discussions are already underway, and Mewery expects pilot projects to be launched in the EU, including the Czech Republic, in the coming months.
The successful securing of research funding is also putting Mewery back on the radar of investors. “Thanks to European grants, we were able to focus all our efforts on research and development last year—which is exactly what grant funding should be used for, i.e., to enable scientific development to reach a stage where it makes sense for commercial scaling and becomes relevant for venture capital,” explains Roman Lauš. He believes that this is opening up opportunities for new investors looking for the right moment to enter the scalable biotechnology sector with a clear commercial plan.
Over the past year, Mewery has secured total funding of EUR 3 million, and since its inception, over EUR 4 million, in the form of public support, investments from several local and international VC funds, and, last but not least, awards from prestigious international competitions. Thanks to a grant from the EIC, the startup can also boast the Seal of Excellence, a European quality label awarded to projects that have met the highest standards set by the European Commission, as evaluated by independent experts in biotechnology and venture capital. Mewery’s success not only confirms the confidence of investors and institutions but also underlines the growing position of the Czech Republic as a key center for advanced biotechnology startups with global ambitions.
Since the launch of the EIC Accelerator program (2021), only five Czech companies have received financial support through it, making Mewery an exceptional startup and also the first deep-tech startup from the Czech Republic to receive funding through participation in EICA in the field of food biotechnology.
“We see this award and funding from local sources as a strong sign of confidence – not only in our team, but also in the very idea of cultivated meat as a sustainable alternative. European validation at this level proves that our project is at the absolute forefront of technology and ready for scaling up to pilot production. Such recognition is a significant validation of the scientific and technical quality of our solution and also strengthens the prestige of the entire Czech innovation ecosystem,” adds Roman Lauš, CEO of Mewery.
Since its founding, Mewery has successfully validated a globally unique technology known as co-cultivation — the combined cultivation of pork and microalgae cells. This synergy not only enhances cell growth efficiency and reduces costs, but also results in a final product with an outstanding and highly valuable composition. Mewery has already demonstrated the technology on four prototypes in various food applications. At the beginning of this year, it was therefore able to start gradual production in a medium-sized bioreactor with a production capacity in the lower kilogram range.
In addition to this success, Mewery is now also part of the international research consortium ALLIANCE, funded by the Horizon Europe program and led by the renowned Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
The project, which brings together 19 partners from eight European countries, aims to expand the use of microalgae-based products on the European market through the development of multi-product biorefineries turning microalgae into valuable ingredients for food, cell farming, feed, and agricultural applications. Thanks to its expertise, Mewery will participate in the validation of microalgae extracts for animal cell cultivation, and thus the sustainable production of alternative proteins.
