CellAg Landscape

Cellular agriculture in Germany

Cellular agriculture (cellag) products have been introduced to Singapore in the end of 2020. We saw the launch of precision fermentation products in the USA or the US approval for the cultivated meat products from UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat in June 2023. Where does Europe position itself in the cellag industry? This article will focus on Germany and covers startups with technological advancements, investments in Germany, the political landscape, German Universities, and societal organizations providing support for cellag.

Nonprofits

Even though there are exciting start-ups popping up in Germany, it is important to note that the overall amount of German start-ups is scarce in comparison to other countries. There is unique potential in Germany, especially for other industries such as the German pharma industry to act as a future supplier along the value chain. For a German future-proof ecosystem to flourish, a catch up is still needed. In the following, you can see the main players in Germany for cultivated fish, cultivated meat, and precision fermentation. We didn’t fully exclude cellag associated players working more broadly on fermentation, as they use similar techniques as the cellag equivalents.

Starting with fish and seafood, Bluu Seafood found their niche in cultivating these products, providing arguments of why this process may be easier to conduct due to less complex conditions necessary for fish cells. Their aim is simple and clear: “Cultivated Seafood Made from Fish Cells. Tastier, Healthier and More Sustainable.” Bluu was founded in 2020 in Berlin and received over € 20 million of funding from multiple investors, as well as moved the headquarters to Hamburg in 2023.

Focusing on precision fermentation, Formo, formerly known as Legendairy Foods, has been around since 2018 with headquarters in Berlin. The company focuses on manufacturing cheese using precision fermented milk protein. Formo thus develops animal-free dairy products to bring the next generation of sustainable, healthy, and equitable dairy products to consumers. They have overall received over €130 million from 15+ investors, and have launched first products in German retail.

Moving to the category of cultivated meat, the German landscape shows more players.

Innocent Meat, based in Rostock and operating within the University of Rostock's Life, Light & Matter research department, develops an automated end-to-end production platform designed to enable conventional meat processors to transition to cultivated meat – without requiring in-house R&D expertise. Founded in 2020 by Laura Gertenbach and Patrick Inomoto, the company describes its approach as a "plug-and-produce" solution, covering the full production chain from cell input and proliferation to differentiation and final meat product.

In late 2025, Innocent Meat secured €6 million in a new funding round, supported by GENIUS Venture Capital, the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the EU's European Regional Development Fund. The funds are directed toward establishing the company's first demonstration plant, developing scalable infrastructure, and pursuing regulatory approvals ahead of a planned market entry in 2028.

RESPECTfarms with activities in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland, focuses on the other hand on decentralizing cultivated meat production. They act as a system integrator between the conventional agriculture industry and the cellular agriculture sector, developing a "scale-out" model that brings cultivated meat production directly to existing farms – rather than relying on large, centralized industrial facilities. In November 2025, RESPECTfarms achieved a global milestone: a working dairy farm in Zuid-Holland, the Netherlands, became the first farm in the world equipped to produce cultivated meat Tracxn, in collaboration with farmer Corné van Leeuwen. The project is part of the CRAFT Consortium, which received the first €2 million of a €4 million EIT Food grant.

Cultimate Foods from Berlin started to focus on cultivated fat in 2021, having received over €3M from 5+ investors so far. Their aim is to supply the cultured meat sector with cultivated fat to enhance the flavor and credibility of products.

MyriaMeat, with headquarters in Munich and Göttingen, was founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the University of Göttingen, transferring patented medical technology to the food sector. The company builds on more than 25 years of research and an R&D investment exceeding €40 million. LinkedIn Its approach is based on pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), enabling the cultivation of functional muscle tissue (rather than undifferentiated cell mass) without requiring scaffolds or plant-based additives.In early 2025, MyriaMeat achieved a global first: pig muscle tissue derived from pluripotent stem cells that exhibits spontaneous contractions, demonstrating the functional ability of real muscle tissue.

Cellag suppliers

The second largest German meat company InFamily Foods extended their portfolio to include a B2B platform, The Cultivated B, for cultivated meat, precision fermentation and bioreactors. With investments in the triple-digit million-euro range, it runs several research labs. Since then, TCB has significantly expanded its scope. In 2024, it entered the official EFSA pre-submission process for a hybrid cultivated meat sausage product – making it the first company worldwide to initiate EFSA certification for a cultivated meat product. TCB has also developed TCB-2, a synthetic molecule replacing fetal bovine serum in growth media, and launched n!Biomachines, a subsidiary focused on next-generation bioreactor systems, with operations in Canada and partnerships with the Weizmann Institute of Science.

2022 was also the birth year of Celltec Systems, a biotechnology company as a spin-off from Frauenhofer institute and the University of Lübeck. CellTec Systems GmbH researches in the field of industrial cell technology to innovate processes for mass propagation for the production of food, diagnostics, test systems and other consumer goods. Since its founding, the company has grown significantly: in 2024, its anchor investor FML Foundation increased its total funding commitment to €10 million, enabling an expansion of laboratory facilities on the Lübeck campus and a planned scale-up to 30 employees. They aim at opening up a new sustainable source of raw materials for various industrial sectors with the industrial use of renewable cell cultures.

As one of the leading suppliers to the biopharmaceutical industry in Germany, Merck has extensive knowledge in cell culture media and bioprocessing technologies. The company realizes their role in the emerging cultured meat industry and aims to become a technology provider to it. They state to involve themselves from R&D to efficient scale-up of production through partnering with companies dedicated to the commercialization of cultivated meat. They partnered with Aleph Farms to work on fermentation-based growth medium proteins in order to eliminate FBS from the process of nurturing cultivated meat products and also to reduce high costs in the making of cultivated meat.

Wacker, a chemical manufacturing company based in Munich, focuses on fermentation-based production of cell-culture proteins for use in foods – proteins with the same composition as those produced in animal bodies, using processes already established in enzyme manufacturing. Wacker's BIOSOLUTIONS division has continued to develop its portfolio of recombinant proteins and growth factors for the cultivated meat and precision fermentation sectors, positioning itself as a commercial-scale supplier independent of individual startup partnerships.

GEA is a company for food processing technology. Apart from other services and sectors, they provide the precision fermentation and cultivated meat sector with bioreactors/fermenters. 2023, GEA opened its New Food Application and Technology Center of Excellence (ATC) in Hildesheim, Germany – a dedicated pilot plant for cell cultivation and fermentation, open to external customers seeking to scale processes from lab to commercial production. This makes GEA one of the most significant pieces of scale-up infrastructure in the German cellag ecosystem.

Sartorius is one of the most known companies in the industry for reactor solutions. Apart from that, they act as a supplier in numerous other areas such as in cell culture media, lab filtration and purification or in cell analysis.

BRAIN BioTech is a specialist in industrial biotechnology and aims at the acceleration of a biobased and, therefore, more sustainable future. Working on growth factors since 1993, BRAIN develops recombinant proteins for the cellag industry, also for German cellag companies.

Evonik is one of the world’s leading specialty chemical companies. They claim to offer high quality cell culture solutions to the pharma industry, but also biotech companies to improve cell culture performance. The ingredients are animal-free, ready for commercial scale and customizable to specific needs.

Eppendorf is a company in life sciences and develops and distributes systems for labs worldwide. Their products range from pipettes, dispensers, centrifuges and mixers, to ultra-low temperature freezers, fermenters and bioreactors.

Pan Biotech (and sister company PAN Foodtech) provides solutions in bioreactors, cell processing or serum-free and cost-effective growth factors. As part of the German cultivated meat consortium CellZero Meat, they further support the advancement of the German ecosystem.

LenioBio is a protein expression platform company that aims at advancing transformative technology to discover, develop and scale proteins, unconstrained by any cell limitations. LenioBio established a legal entity in Germany in 2016 and acts as a protein supplier for the industry. They also joined the community of Cellular Agriculture Netherlands to develop a Dutch ecosystem in cellag.

AltProtein.Jobs is a talent solution platform for the alternative protein industry, including cellag, and connects job seekers to opportunities around the world. They also run an impact calculator where professionals can calculate their impact in the alternative protein industry.

More organizations to support or accelerate the industry are projects such as Food Campus Berlin or FoodWorks.

Investments in Germany

Private

According to analyses by the Good Food Institute (GFI), private investment in alternative proteins in Germany has recovered strongly after a difficult 2023. In 2024, German companies raised approximately €134 million — a record figure, nearly five times the amount invested in 2023, and accounting for around 28% of all European alternative protein investment that year. The majority of this was driven by precision fermentation, most notably Formo's €61 million Series B and a €35 million EIB loan. Germany ranked third globally for fermentation investment over the period 2015–2024. Investment in cultivated meat remained more limited, though Innocent Meat and Cultimate Foods both closed funding rounds in 2024.

Investments partly stem from the conventional meat industry. Apart from InFamily Foods, already mentioned above, the German meat and plant-based meat producer Rügenwalder Mühle partnered up with the Swiss start-up Mirai Foods to produce a hybrid product (a plant-based burger with cultivated fat) and funded feasibility studies for the first cultivated meat farm planned by RESPECTfarms.

PHW, headquartered in Lower Saxony, Germany, established their alternative protein business unit in 2018. Since then, the group has grown into one of Germany's most active conventional food companies in the alternative protein space, with investments in SuperMeat, Mosa Meat (2024, €40M round; 2025, €15M extension), and German biomass fermentation startup Kynda (2025). PHW has also founded two new subsidiaries – VTEC Ingredients GmbH and VTEC Precision Foods – to build out its plant-based and fermentation ingredient value chain.

Funds

FoodLabs from Berlin was founded in 2016 and finances early-stage start-ups working on sustainable foods. Among other food technologies, they have invested into the German precision fermentation start-up Formo. Next to FoodsLabs, Good Seed Ventures from Rheine invested into Formo, as well.

Other German funds that have not necessarily funded (German) cellag start-ups but reflect potential future cellag investments are: PurpleOrange Ventures from Berlin (which invested in Senara), Green Generation Fund from Berlin, Zintinus from Berlin, and Oyster Bay from Hamburg.

Finally, the German accelerator program for startups ProVeg Incubator is open to start-ups worldwide that work on plant-based, fermented, and cultivated foods. Regarding German cellag corporates, they so far funded start-ups such as Formo or Cultimate Foods.

Public

Public funding for alternative proteins in Germany has expanded significantly since 2023. Through a Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) research call, up to €18.1 million is being invested in alternative proteins – including cultivated seafood – between 2023 and 2027. In November 2023, the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag committed a further €30+ million for 2024, covering: the establishment of the Kompetenzzentrum Proteine der Zukunft (Centre of Competence for Proteins of the Future), a stronger focus on plant protein cultivation for human nutrition, expansion of funding for plant-based foods and cultivated meat, and transformation aid for farmers transitioning to alternative protein production. Between 2021 and 2025, total federal investment in alternative protein innovation exceeded €111 million across BMEL, BMWK, and BMBF. Earlier public investments include the original CELLZERO Meat research consortium and the Innocent Meat / University of Rostock scaffold research project (€500,000).

Political Landscape in Germany

The development of new economic sectors is usually a phase that is advanced by public investments. This is primarily because of the high investment risk for the private sector. Private investment enters when fundamental questions and obstacles have been answered or overcome.

Germany's political positioning on alternative proteins has evolved significantly. The coalition agreement of the 2021–2025 government (SPD, Greens, FDP) was the first to explicitly mention alternative proteins, committing to "strengthen plant-based alternatives and advocate for the approval of innovations such as alternative protein sources and meat substitutes in the EU." This was followed by concrete funding measures from 2023 onwards (see Public Investments above). The new coalition government (CDU/CSU and SPD, formed in 2025) has continued this trajectory in its coalition agreement, committing to strengthening the EU protein strategy, expanding domestic protein crop production, and actively supporting the market entry of alternative proteins.

Need for political support

Having alternative proteins in the coalition agreement is a first step to publicly support this industry. What are the political challenges withholding the industry to flourish? What is specifically needed in the German political landscape to happen? Three main necessary action points can be outlined when it comes to the German political landscape for cellag.

Funding for Open Access Research

Germany has made notable progress in public research funding for alternative proteins since 2023, moving from fragmented, low-level support to more strategic and better-funded programs. The €30+ million Bundestag commitment in late 2023, the new Kompetenzzentrum Proteine der Zukunft, and the BMEL research call (€18.1 million, 2023–2027) together represent a step change in approach. However, compared to leading European peers, Germany remains underfunded relative to its size. The Netherlands has committed €60 million specifically to cellular agriculture; Denmark's equivalent investment totals around €168 million for alternative proteins overall. Scaling Germany's investment to match the Netherlands proportionally by population would require approximately €300 million – still a distant target.

An example for a more coherent strategy is the Netherlands that is funding cellag specifically with €60 million to build up a Dutch ecosystem. In comparison to European public funds as in the Netherlands (with the €60 million into cellag only), Denmark (€200 million on alternative proteins) or Norway (€10 million into cellag only), Germany would have to expand its public funds on cellag massively. Considering the German population size with the Dutch one, Germany would have to fund cellag with around €300 million to keep up with the neighbors’ funds.

Regulatory support

Germany could play a vital role in shaping the regulatory system in Europe in a positive way, making it more transparent, supportive and reliable, especially due to its size. Key challenges and demands of German start-ups include improved guidance and checklists as well as improved and closer communication between authorities and start-ups. Although there were no milestones in the EU regarding regulatory approvals, there was a panel discussion organized on cultivated meat in the European Parliament. Stakeholders such as Mosa Meat, GFI Europe or CE Delft were present and provided information on the status-quo and benefits of cultivated meat. As more and better communication structures are needed, Germany could play a more active role in organizing these events.

Further, the regulatory approval process for cellag, which falls under EU Novel Foods regulation, contains a political process where representatives of each member state vote in favor or against the regulatory approval of a product. 55% of the countries that entail 65% of the European population size must be in favor of approval. This shows the vital role Germany, as the motor of the European economy and population, can play in facilitating the regulatory approval process of cellag products within the European market.

Fair competition

Like in other European countries, the tax system in Germany favors animal-products over animal-free products, creating disadvantages in open and free markets. As for the need to eradicate these unfair conditions for the plant-based sector, the future tax system would either have to treat all animal and animal-free protein products the same or consider the ecological implications and costs of a product to make the German tax system more just.

Universities in Germany

The one thing Germany stands out with is the creation of the first professorship ever in cellular agriculture. Prof. Dr. Marius Henkel got hold of this position in September 2022, building on this professorship at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) School of Life Sciences. Within this professorship, Prof. Dr. Henkel views cellag as the process of replacing conventionally produced animal agricultural products with biotechnological methods, including cultured meat as well as precision fermentation. The professorship has since grown into a dedicated research group, with PhD students working on topics spanning sustainability assessment, microfluidics, perfusion bioreactors, and scaffold development, including a collaboration with the professorship of fungal biotechnology on natural scaffold materials for cultured meat. Prof. Henkel has also expressed ambitions to build a full study programme on the science of cultivated meat and to establish strong links with the industry.

While the TUM supports Germany-based research in cellag with a professorship, there are further universities playing their part in the cellag space.

The Hochschule Reutlingen is home of Prof. Dr. Petra Kluger’s lab with various projects focusing on cultivated meat. Projects include the research on sustainable meat, taking into account economic and environmental aspects of cultivated meat production, the upscaling on speroid-based meat production to combat problems faced through scalability of the current processes, and serum-free bioprinted meat, to investigate how cultivated meat can be produced without the use of FBS. In 2023, the Kluger Lab became part of a joint BMEL-funded research consortium together with Bluu Seafood and the University of Vechta, receiving funding of over €1.3 million to research cultivated fish fat cells as the basis for protein- and omega-3-rich food products.

At the University of Vechta, Prof. Dr. Lin-Hi is professor of economics and ethics. Here, research focuses include the nutrition of the future, with a special focus on cultivated meat. Prof. Lin-Hi is a recognised voice on the societal implications of cellular agriculture in Germany and has been part of the BMEL-funded consortium with Hochschule Reutlingen and Bluu Seafood since 2023, contributing the social science component of cultivated fish research. He is also actively engaged in the PIONEER research cluster on consumer acceptance and markets, with work ongoing into 2025 and 2026.

Dr. Florian Fiebelkorn at the University of Osnabrück highlights the potential of cultured meat from the perspective of a biology didactician. With his research focused on investigating the influences of knowledge and attitudes on sustainable diets and biodiversity conservation, cellag-based publications are included in his and his team’s portfolio to address consumer acceptance of cultured meat.

Further stakeholders at universities in Germany contribute to the cellag research sector. Stefan Wahlen is Professor of sociology of nutrition at the Justus Liebig University of Giessen and also has a say in the social component of cultured meat production. At the Technical University of Berlin, research on cultured meat is included with the focus on scaffolding and structuring. One project comprises cellular agriculture and 3D bioprinting. The University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo) hosts the research institution WING (Science and Innovation for Sustainable Poultry Management), which conducted a survey on cultivated meat as part of broader European research collaborations on alternative proteins.

Overall, research is still a critical bottleneck to progress in the cellag sector, but Germany's university landscape is becoming increasingly active – with cross-institutional collaborations, dedicated professorships, and publicly funded research consortia marking a step change from earlier years.

Civil Society in Germany

Several civil society organizations are actively supporting and providing information on cellular agriculture. CellAg Germany is the non-profit that solely focuses on accelerating the cellag space in German-speaking Europe. GFI Europe and ProVeg are both active on cellag and other alternative proteins. Bio Deutschland and BALPro (Verband für alternative Proteinquellen) are associations representing companies from the space.