Estonian biotech startup Gelatex opens €15M Series A round

The Tallinn-based biotech startup Gelatex has opened a Series A round, set to raise €15 million to produce meat alternative. It doesn’t harm any animals and consists of nanofibers, Invest in Estonia informs.

• Founded in 2016 by Mari-Ann Meigo Fonseca and Märt-Erik Martens, Gelatex is a biomaterials technology company. The company invents the fastest technology for producing gelatin-based nanofibers on a larger scale.
• Gelatex’s nanofiber essentially helps to form a structured product that looks and tastes like real meat at a reasonable price. Apart from meat alternative, it helps to deal with tissue engineering, creating bio-based filters, as well as fake leather textile, energy storage, wound care, and many more.

“We have a solution for reducing greenhouse gases and methane, for preserving more clean water and land. We will solve the meat problem without harming any animals,”

Märt-Erik Martens explains.

• However, the alternative is not completely vegan. Although Gelatex’s nanofibrous materials on which the meat cells are grown are plant-based, the cells alone are extracted from an animal. Albeit, compared to conventional meat, the animal stays alive.
• The company plans to use the future €15 million funding to start the pilot production line.