Business

Cultivated meat startup Vow slices 25 jobs amid hunt for new funds

- January 14, 2025 3 MIN READ
Tim-Noakesmith and George Peppou
Sydney cultivated meat startup Vow, creator of the “woolly mammoth meatball“, has been forced to slash staffing by nearly a third, with 25 jobs being made redundant as it seeks a new round of investmen.

Vow has been developing lab-grown cell-based animal products being served in high-end restaurants in Asia. It is still awaiting regulatory approval to serve its products in Australia

In early 2024, Vow began serving Forged Parfait in Singapore, made from Japanese quail cells, involving no live animals. In keep with the fowl liver theme, the startup launched Forged Gras, which resembles the French delicacy foie gras (a fatty duck or goose liver), again made from quail, in Hong Kong before Christmas. Foie gras production is banned in many countries, including Australia, because it involves force-feeding the fowl.

Vow was co-founded by former Cochlear design lead Tim Noakesmith and George Peppou and in 2019 began producing lab-grown meat from more than 50 species of animal cells, including water buffalo, alpaca, kangaroo and fish.

The biotech startup received a $7.7 million in a seed round backed by Square Peg, as well as Grok, the family fund of Mike Cannon-Brookes, in early 2021, and then in 2022, $73.5 million in a Series A led by Blackbird and Prosperity 7 Ventures, with support from super fund Hostplus.

Peppou, the CEO, told staff a “very challenging funding environment” forced their hand on redundancies as they hoped to finalise a fresh raise with enough runway to see the business through to 2027.

The company has been awaiting regulatory approval to serve its product in Australia, having applied back in 2023.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) launched a second round of public consultation on approving cultivated quail as a food in November last year having previously approved it as safe to eat.

The redundancy process began on Friday and cofounder George Peppou said that after all they’d achieved when so many had failed, it was “an incredibly difficult decision and it truly hurt to make”.

“Vow is pioneering success in an industry in which many companies have already failed, with more than 200 companies founded, over $3b invested and still only three with regulatory approvals  – one of which is Vow – to sell anywhere in the world. That success is predicated on solving three main challenges: scale, market demand and market access,” he said.

“Vow is the only company in the world to have solved the first two of these challenges and is leading the world in market access. However, given the complexity and novelty of the regulatory process for cultured meat, it has taken far longer than initially expected to secure regulatory approval in the markets which Vow has targeted.

“This is not a criticism of the regulators, but rather an acknowledgement of the care and thoroughness necessary to ensure cultured meat is completely safe for human consumption and regulated appropriately.”

Peppou praised his departing team members, known as “Vowzers”, as “exceptionally talented, dedicated and hardworking individuals who substantially contributed to the success of Vow”.

“The reality is that in order for Vow to continue to grow and thrive, we must get leaner and focus our entire efforts on activities that put our products into more markets and onto more consumers’ plates,” he said.

“This process is not a reflection on them, but rather what Vow needs to achieve in the next two years. It is my sincere hope that they all choose to stay in our startup ecosystem because I know they are exactly the calibre of individuals who make groundbreaking innovations possible, and I will do everything in my power to support them to find new roles.”

A Blackbird spokesperson said the remain confident in Vow’s roadmap.

“Vow has an ambitious vision and has made meaningful strides in creating a novel, delicious product that people love,” they said.

“Like many companies operating in highly technical environments and highly regulated markets, Vow has faced a challenging operating environment as it scales its mission globally.”