Modern Meadow is a biotechnology company using cellular agriculture and biofabrication to manufacture bioleather they call "Zoa" out of cultured animal free collagen mixed with natural and man made materials. They start with naturally occurring yeast strains and then use DNA-sequence editing to prompt the yeast cells to produce collagen, the main structural protein found in animal skin. The collagen is grown and assembled it into a fibrous sheet that can be processed, or can be combined with other materials, and tanned in order to be fashioned into various products. The company is based out of Nutley, New Jersey and was founded in 2011 by Andras Forgacs, Francoise Marga, Gabor Forgacs, and Karoly Jakab.
On December 28, 2013 Modern meadow raised a seed round of $2.5M including Sequoia Capital, Ulu Ventures, Starlight Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Horizons Ventures, and others.
On June 19, 2014, Modern Meadow raised a Series A round of $10M. Investors included Horizon Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Black Point Group, and others.
In June 2016, Modern Meadow closed a $40M Series B funding round lead by Horizon Ventures and Iconiq Capital.
Patents
Biofabricated material containing collagen fibrils
Pending
2/15/2016
Dried food products formed from cultured muscle cells
Pending
7/26/2012
Dried food products formed from cultured muscle cells
Granted
2/5/2014
Edible and animal-product-free microcarriers for engineered meat
Granted
9/13/2013
Engineered biological nerve graft, fabrication and application thereof
Granted
2/2/2010
Timeline
Modern Meadow moved it’s headquarters to the former Hoffman-LaRoche campus in Nutley, NJ.
In June 2016, Modern Meadow closed a $40M Series B funding round lead by Horizon Ventures and Iconiq Capital.
On June 19, 2014, Modern Meadow raised a Series A round of $10M. Investors included Horizon Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Black Point Group, and others.
On December 28, 2013 Modern meadow raised a seed round of $2.5M including Sequoia Capital, Ulu Ventures, Starlight Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Horizons Ventures, and others.
Modern Meadow is based out of Brooklyn, New York and was founded in 2011 by Andras Forgacs, Francoise Marga, Gabor Forgacs, and Karoly Jakab.
Funding Rounds
SBIR/STTR Awards
Patents
Further Resources
A Brooklyn startup that's armed with $40 million is growing real leather in a lab without hurting a single animal
Alyson Shontell, Business Insider
News article
Andras Forgacs: Growing Meat and Leather Without Killing the Animal
October 1, 2015
Bolt Threads joins Modern Meadow in the quest to bring lab-grown leather to market
Jonathan Shieber
Web article
How Modern Meadow Is Fabricating The Animal-Free Leather Of The Future
Eillie Anzilotti
Web article