Believer Meats: From industry darling to abrupt shutdown, and what it means for lab-grown meat
But here’s where the controversy deepens: a company once valued at hundreds of millions now stops all operations right as it seemed closest to mass production.
Shani Ashkenazi
12:40, 14.12.25
For almost ten years, Believer Meats—initially launched as Future Meat—was hailed as a beacon in the cultured-meat movement. Investors flocked, public attention surged, and the idea that meat could be produced without traditional livestock began to feel plausible. Yet last week, quietly and with little fanfare, the company disclosed a complete halt to operations.
The timing amplified the shock. Just a month earlier, Believer Meats revealed a monumental milestone: a state-of-the-art industrial facility intended to scale cultured chicken production. The move suggested leadership in the field, including regulatory clearance to sell its products, yet the company finally ran out of cash and shut down.
Industry insiders indicate a cascade of internal decisions left the company with no viable path forward, forcing layoff waves affecting roughly 100 employees in the United States and Israel and, ultimately, a full suspension of activities. The abrupt collapse has sparked a broader debate within foodtech about whether lab-grown meat can be financially sustainable at scale.
Believer Meats began as a research initiative within Prof. Yaakov Nahmias’s lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was incorporated in 2018 under the name Future Meat. It quickly drew attention for producing meat from animal cells without slaughter, touting lower environmental impact and independence from conventional farming.
That promise attracted substantial funding. In 2021, the company closed a Series B investment round of about $347 million at a $600 million valuation, following a prior $43 million raise. The roster of backers included ADM Ventures, S2G Investments, Tyson Ventures, Rich Products Ventures, Emerald Technology Ventures, Cibus Capital, Bits x Bites, and various Israeli institutional investors such as Menora Mivtachim and Neto.
In 2022, in a bid to broaden its reach internationally and to establish a U.S. footprint, Future Meat rebranded as Believer Meats and installed a new chief executive. Gustavo Burger, formerly head of international operations at Kraft Heinz, took the helm with the goal of translating years of scientific promise into a commercially viable product, despite limited market traction and no large-scale production.
Believer Meats wasn’t alone in chasing a future of meat production without animals. Over the past decade, many startups promised to disrupt the global meat industry with lab-grown alternatives that could reduce animal suffering, antibiotic use, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions. The sector boomed in 2021, drawing roughly $1 billion in funding worldwide, with notable players like Upside Foods and GOOD Meat raising hundreds of millions.
Yet the excitement proved transient. By 2023, investment in cultured-meat ventures had fallen by roughly 80%. While some regulators in the U.S., Israel, and Singapore issued initial approvals, none of the companies managed to achieve sustained, commercial-scale production. Early restaurant pilots dwindled. GOOD Meat halted sales at a Singapore venue in late 2023 due to losses and supply issues, and Upside Foods ended a limited collaboration with a San Francisco restaurant in early 2024.
By 2025, the sector’s activity had cooled to demonstrations and pilots rather than permanent menu offerings.
In this climate, Believer Meats appeared unusually well-positioned. It had secured U.S. regulatory approval for cultured chicken and, just weeks before, completed a North Carolina plant designed to churn out up to 12,000 tons annually. Yet when the finish line seemed within reach, the company ceased operations.
Anne Schubert, Global Head of HR and Talent, shared on LinkedIn: “After two years of building something truly bold and special, Believer Meats made the difficult decision last week to cease operations.” Management later said they were exploring a buyer or an alternative structure to keep the business or its assets alive in some form.
Complicating the picture is a lawsuit reported by AgFunderNews. The North Carolina construction contractor is suing Believer Meats for an alleged $34 million debt. Court filings claim Believer missed a December payment and breached deals tied to the facility, with demands for foreclosure or sale of the plant. Industry insiders estimate the plant’s monthly operating costs could approach $1 million.
Related coverage:
- After more than $390 million in funding, Believer Meats abruptly shuts down
- Cultured-meat startup Future Meat raises $320 million at a $600 million valuation
- Future Meat completes a $26.75 million Series B to market a chicken substitute
The legal clash, combined with waning investor enthusiasm, is widely viewed as a major factor behind the sudden closure.
Until recently, cultured meat was seen as a front-runner in foodtech’s next big leap. Today, with funding retreating and technical challenges unresolved, confidence is waning. Production remains expensive, scaling remains elusive, and final products remain costly. Even firms with regulatory go-aheads struggle to prove true economic viability.
Some players are changing direction. Upside Foods has paused plans for a large facility, while others pursue “hybrid” products that blend plant-based ingredients with small amounts of cultured cells, provoking fresh questions about their nutritional and culinary value.
Believer Meats’ collapse—once a benchmark for industrial-scale production—has intensified skepticism across the sector. As Redefine Meat’s founder, Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, observed, producing cells “is not producing meat.” After a decade of development, the breakthrough many anticipated has yet to arrive.
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