Thread by @sethbannon

🙌 @MemphisMeats has closed a $161M Series B! The future of food is bright indeed!

With this round they'll build the first U.S. production plant for cultivated meat. THIS IS HAPPENING and sooner than most thought.

Some thoughts on where we've been and where we go from here 👇

Memphis Meats is bringing needed innovation to an industry where the core technology hasn't changed much since we started domesticating animals over 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia.

Not many industries are using the same technology as 4,000 years go!

👇

People don't think about it this way but functionally humans use animals as production technology to convert plant-protein inputs (the grains & grass they eat) into outputs we like to consumer (meat, milk, etc).

There's a # of problems with making these products this way.

👇

Problem 1: Animal agriculture is destroying the planet.

The industry emits more greenhouse gasses than ALL OF TRANSPORTATION COMBINED. It's worse than every car, train, truck, plane, and ship put together.

It's one of the greatest contributors to the climate crisis.

👇

Problem 2: Animal agriculture creates massive health risks.

To keep closely packed together animals on factory farms from getting sick, they're pumped full of antibiotics. This creates the perfect breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant microbes that often spread to humans.

👇

Problem 3: Meat from slaughtered animals isn't healthy.

The World Health Organization classified red meat as a Type II carcinogen (likely causes cancer). It also has high risk of dangerous bacterial contamination (from fecal bacteria that spreads during slaughter).

👇

Problem 4: Animal agriculture causes mass suffering to animals.

The scale and scope of animal suffering (especially on factory farms but not only there) caused by using animals to make food is something future generations will look back on with disgrace.

👇

Problem 5: We're failing to feed the world affordable meat protein.

We're still unable to produce meat cheaply enough to feed the most impoverished, who simply cannot afford quality protein in many cases. There are no more efficiencies to be had with conventional animal ag.

👇

@MemphisMeats solves the problems of conventional meat production. A lifecycle analysis of cultivated meat out of Oxford University found it would lead to:

96% less greenhouse gas emissions
45% less energy
99% less land use
96% less water

And no animals need to suffer!

👇

When we first supported Memphis Meats during their seed round back in January 2016 there were 3 big risks:

1) regulatory
2) consumer acceptance
3) cost of production

They've made incredible progress on each.

👇

On the regulatory side, they peeled away 1/2 of the meat lobby & jointly advocated for a clear regulatory path. The FDA & USDA last year announced a clear, reasonable path to approval. The FDA Commissioner actually touted the sustainability benefits during the announcement!

👇

On the public acceptance side, it's become clear that consumers don't like meat BECAUSE of how it's currently made but DESPITE how it's currently made. When they can get the same delicious meat produced in an ethical, sustainable way, they'll run towards it. Polls show this.

👇

On the cost of production side, @MemphisMeats has made HUGE progress.

I can't yet share the exact numbers just yet, but suffice it to say when I heard the latest I literally got goosebumps. THIS IS HAPPENING, and sooner than everyone thought possible. Announcement soon!

👇

Read about the first time I tried @MemphisMeats (also the first time I ate meat in 20 years!) here:

medium.com/@sethbannon/i-…

👇

Cultivated meat is the future of meat production -- the first true innovation in the industry in FOUR THOUSAND YEARS and @MemphisMeats is leading the way!

Proud that @fiftyyears has been supporting them since their seed round 4 years ago and has continued every round since.

👊