Cell-cultivated scallop developer Mermade Seafoods raises USD 3.3 million

Jerusalem, Israel-based start-up Mermade Seafoods has raised USD 3.3 million (EUR 3.3 million) seed investment to help it continue to develop cell-cultivated sea scallops. 

Mermade Seafoods was founded in 2021 by its current CEO Daniel Einhorn, its CTO Rotem Kadir, and its COO Tomer Galevy. Einhorn said the international scallop market for scallops is valued at USD 8 billion (EUR 8.1 billion), with the domestic U.S. market worth USD 600 million (EUR 603 million) alone.

With the new funding, Mermade said it hopes to reach laboratory production by 2023, according to TechCrunch.

“We decided to focus on scallop as our first product, since it’s a popular dish all over the world, but one that suffers from high prices and shortages due to serious supply chain problems,” Einhorn told TechCrunch. “It’s easier to produce in comparison with other more-complex meat products.” 

Mermade Seafoods uses microalgae to grow cells to create its cultivated scallops. They are grown in a “circular method of production” to ensure the production is cost-effective with a nutritious result, Einhorn said.

Contributors to the funding round include OurCrowd, U.S. venture fund Fall Line Capital, and Dutch investor Sake Bosch. 

Mermade Seafoods hopes to launch its scallop product for retail in the next few years “at an affordable price and with the same quality and taste as the original food,” Einhorn said.

Photo courtesy of Mermade Seafoods