Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the most famous and highly paid actors in the world, has invested in two start-ups developing technology for “growing” meat in a laboratory. We are talking about Dutch meat Mos and Israeli Alef farms.
Mosa Meat and Aleph farms specialize in the production of beef directly from animal cells. Over the years, DiCaprio has promoted his image to promote environmental and climate protection activities, so investing in this type of business is not surprising.
Lab meat companies want to meet the demand for meat, but in a way that is radically different from industrial animal husbandry, since not only does it not kill them, but also eliminates the significant carbon footprint of traditional animal husbandry.
Mosa Meat is a Dutch startup whose founders first introduced a laboratory-cooked beef burger in 2013. They founded the company three years later and are currently working on increasing production capacity to meet demand in the near future.
Mark Post, one of the two founders of Mosa Meat, introduces the first test tube burger in 2013.
Aleph farms in Israel produce beef steaks from genetically unmodified cells isolated from live cows without harming animals. The startup was founded in 2017, and in December 2018 showed the first steak it cooked.
Meat from the laboratory, Leonardo DiCaprio and the giants of the market
Both companies, claiming to be a world-renowned actor as their investor, argue that farmed meat will allow consumers to enjoy its values without requiring major behavioral changes from people. This is cited by supporters of the transition from a meat diet to a plant-based diet – in part or in full. Test tube meat producers predict this market could reach $ 25 billion over the next 10 years.
These are estimates by experts from McKinsey, a global strategic consulting company, which in one of its reports also estimated that about $ 350 million was invested in the meat industry in 2020, and already $ 250 million in 2021. This is quite an impressive amount when you consider that there are currently fewer than 100 startups in this industry.
Leonardo DiCaprio works in an interesting company, money for test-tube meat was provided by both investors who previously worked in the traditional food market (American Tyson Foods or Cargill) and those who are better known for their investments in the latest technologies – here is the Japanese SoftBank.
What does DiCaprio himself say about his investments? “One of the most effective ways to deal with the climate crisis is to change our food production system. Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms offer new ways to meet global beef demand while addressing some of the most pressing problems of modern industrial beef production. I can join them as an advisor and investor as they prepare to offer their product to consumers, ”said the actor, quoted in the press release.