April 4, 2023

CellQua to develop cultured meat from aquatic animal cells

South Korean start-up CellQua has secured seed investment from Sopoong Ventures to develop cultured meat using aquatic animal cells, including those extracted from eel, squid and loach, KoreaTechDesk reported.

CellQua has acquired the source technology required for developing cell culture medium in addition to the cell culture technology necessary for producing cultured meat. The business successfully developed its culture medium and completed patent applications for "cell separation and culture method specialised for aquatic animals" and the "development of additives to replace foetal bovine serum."

CellQua intends to develop a system to automate and streamline the manufacturing process and secure additional human resources with the seed investment from Sopoong Ventures.

Jo Yoon-min, a partner at Sopoong Ventures, said CellQua was chosen for their climate technology-specific accelerating programme, as well as their technical team's proficiency in creating cultured meat and producing a prototype of that meat, and having equipment for molecular biological analysis.

CellQua was founded by Lee Sang-yoon, who holds a PhD in fisheries science, and Lee Sang-yeop, a computer vision engineer, in August 2021. The CellQua co-CEOs said they started the business to address the issue of depleting marine resources as a result of overfishing and pollution from microplastics and wastewater.

By 2025, the company hopes to launch its cell culture products. It also wants to maintain control over cell culture technology and supplies derived from non-species aquatic animal cells.

-      KoreaTechDesk