US actor Leonardo DiCaprio has joined European cultured meat companies Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms as an investor and advisor.
On 22 September, Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat, two companies leading the emerging field of cultivated meat, announced an investment from environmental activist and Academy Award winning actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. Both companies have demonstrated the ability to grow beef directly from animal cells, with the unveiling of the first cultivated hamburger by Mosa Meat in 2013 and the first cultivated steak and ribeye by Aleph Farms in 2018 and 2021, respectively.
“One of the most impactful ways to combat the climate crisis is to transform our food system. Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to satisfy the world’s demand for beef, while solving some of the most pressing issues of current industrial beef production. I’m very pleased to join them as an advisor and investor, as they prepare to introduce cultivated beef to consumers,” said Leonardo DiCaprio in an official statement.
Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms are among the European pioneers in the cultured meat area which aims to offer a solution to mitigate the impacts of industrial beef production. A recent independent Life Cycle Analysis study shows that cultivated beef production is projected to reduce climate impact by 92%, air pollution by 93%, use 95% less land and 78% less water than industrial beef production. “Leonardo DiCaprio’s work to bring about positive change for the planet is closely aligned with our mission at Mosa Meat,” said Mosa Meat CEO Maarten Bosch. “We are thrilled to bring him on board as advisor and investor and work together to feed current and future generations sustainably.” Founded in 2016, Mosa Meat is now scaling up production of the same beef that people love, but in a way that is better for people, animals, and the planet. A diverse and growing team of food-loving problem-solvers, we are united in our mission to fundamentally reshape the global food system. Headquartered in Maastricht, The Netherlands, Mosa Meat is a privately held company backed by Blue Horizon, M Ventures, Bell Food Group, Nutreco, Mitsubishi Corporation and others.
Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO of Aleph Farms said: “As a committed environmentalist, we welcome Leonardo DiCaprio to our advisory board and family of top tier investors. Our team is committed to improving the sustainability of our global food systems and we’re thrilled to have Leo share in our vision.” Aleph Farms grows beef steaks, from non-genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow, without harming animals and with a significantly reduced impact to the environment. The company was co-founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, The Kitchen Hub of the Strauss Group, and Professor Shulamit Levenberg from the Biomedical Engineering Faculty at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. Headquartered in Israel, Aleph Farms’ global network of top tier investors includes L. Catterton, DisruptAD (ADQ), BRF, Thai Union and Cargill. Aleph Farms released the world’s first cultivated steak in December 2018 and the world’s first cultivated ribeye steak in 2021.