Sydney cultured meat startup Vow raises $49.2 million Series A

Sydney-based Vow, a cultured meat company, has raised $49.2 million in Series A funding.

 The raise was led by Blackbird & Prosperity 7, an Australasian investment firm, with strong support from Toyota Ventures, Square Peg, Grok, Cavalio, Peakbridge, Tenacious Ventures, HostPlus Super LP, NGS Super and Pavilion Capital. It’s a record for a series A raise in the cultured meat industry.

The company is working on finding a solution to replace animal agriculture with a more sustainable method of food production. As Australia’s first cell-based meat company, Vow’s aim is to make sustainable, abundant and delicious food for people in every corner of the world. 

The first Vow-engineered product will be available for tasting in local restaurants soon and the company has built one of the largest cultured meat facilities on the planet.

“When Vow was founded, we knew to change the way billions eat we had to do more than recreate what we know,” says Vow CEO & co-founder George Peppou.

“By inventing new meats that are tastier, more nutritious and serve functions traditional meats can’t, we can have an enormous impact. We’re thrilled to be toe to toe with the best companies in this space, moving at speed to reach huge milestones with a fraction of the capital of other companies.” 

The funding marks an important milestone for Vow as it expands its manufacturing facilities with the construction of Factory 2 and introduces its first product brand, Morsel in Singapore this year. This funding will be used for future product development, manufacturing expansion, and hiring across new divisions as Vow expands operations and works to disrupt the food industry, planting the seeds for future growth across markets worldwide. 

Blackbird and Prosperity7 Ventures, the diversified growth fund of Aramco Ventures, co-led the Series A with strong support from Toyota Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Grok Ventures, Cavallo Ventures, Peakbridge, Tenacious Ventures, HostPlus Super, NGS Super and Pavilion Capital. 

“Vow represents the height of ambition – using robotics, data and biology – to make more delicious food than we do today,” says Blackbird Partner Samantha Wong.

“Having known the founders pre-company, we have been incredibly impressed with the rate of progress and the quality of hires in the last couple of years. We are proud to be leading Vow’s Series A round, helping to unlock the next phase of growth that will transform the food industry as we know it today.” 

Vow welcomes back Blackbird and Square Peg from its pre-seed and seed round, and is excited to expand its pool of investors who are eager to join in the brand’s vision to revolutionize the sustainable food space, enabling healthier options and reshaping consumers’ perspective on the viability of cultured meat as a disruptor in the food industry.

“Food Security is one of the most important issues for humanity to solve, and cell cultured meat will be a critical development in the solution, making Vow a great fit with Prosperity7’s core mandate,” said Aysar Tayeb, Executive Managing Director for Prosperity7 Ventures.

“Every choice Vow has made in its approach is thoughtfully aimed to accelerate acceptance and commercialization of cell cultured protein, including the deep application of technology and expanding the box to include thousands of cell lines to optimize taste, nutrition, and accelerate cell growth and cost down. We are thrilled to be a part of Vow’s pioneering journey to transform how food is made.” 

“As consumers shift to meat that fits their nutritional, sensory, and taste preferences, we see Vow’s cultured meat unlocking the next generation of alternative proteins,” says Jim Adler, founding managing director of Toyota Ventures.

“Vow has the potential to meet the food demands of a rising global population while reducing the impact of food production on the environment. We are so excited to join the Vow team on their mission to make sustainable food both irresistible and available to billions across the planet.”