Cultured Meat Company 'SpaceF' Secures 7 Billion KRW Series A Investment from Daesang, Lotte, and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeongsoo Lim] SpaceF, a cultured meat research and development company, announced on the 25th that it has completed a Series A investment round worth 7 billion KRW.

This investment round included participation from existing investor Daily Partners, as well as Daesang, Lotte Ventures (Lotte Chemical Innovation Fund No. 2), Timewise Investment, Nice Investment Partners, and UTC Investment. SpaceF evaluated this investment attraction as encouraging, noting that major domestic food and chemical companies participated in the investment.

SpaceF is a cultured meat specialized company established last year. Researchers from Seoul National University specializing in animal stem cells and meat science, as well as researchers in functional food science from Sejong University, are involved in research and development (R&D). The company has already secured patents and core technologies essential for cultured meat production, including muscle stem cell isolation, culturing, and serum-free culture medium development. In March, SpaceF showcased the first cultured pork prototype in Korea using pig stem cells and is progressing with commercialization targeted for 2025.

According to data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the global alternative meat market size is expected to grow from 4.24 trillion KRW in 2015 to 6.97 trillion KRW by 2023. According to global market research firm Polaris Market Research, the global cultured meat market size is also expected to expand to 352.4 million USD (approximately 414.1 billion KRW) by 2028.

Kim Byunghoon, CEO of SpaceF, stated, "Cultured meat research is one solution that can address various issues such as global food insecurity, environmental, and ethical concerns," adding, "We will do our best to develop sustainable and safely produced protein foods."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.