SINGAPORE (BLOOMBERG) - Cell-based seafood producer Shiok Meats of Singapore has received US$12.6 million (S$17.3 million) in Series A funding - the latest alternative protein company to raise money as the pandemic pressures global food supply chains.

The new round of funding will sustain the start-up for at least three years and help finance research, development and its first plant in Singapore, according to chief executive officer and co-founder Sandhya Sriram.

New shareholders include Seeds Capital - the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore - and several venture capital funds. Temasek-backed fund Big Idea Ventures, which was a seed investor, did not take part in the latest round.

Start-ups and food giants around the world are racing to invent and improve alternatives to traditional meat production as consumers become more careful about nutrition and the environment. While fake-meat companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are raising the lion's share of funding as they expand into new markets, other start-ups are working on laboratory-grown alternatives for a potential pool of customers that want to eat real meat and seafood that do not come from living animals.

Shiok Meats has raised US$20.2 million in total funding and a person familiar with the fund-raising said its post-money valuation is about US$50 million. It takes the stem cells from shrimp before multiplying them in a "culture media", a solution filled with nutrients. It is an expensive product used to make things like vaccines that is primarily sold by pharmaceutical and chemical companies. It is also a key reason why Shiok's prawn meat now costs US$3,500 per kg.

The start-up is researching alternative and cheaper plant-based ingredients with the goal of bringing the cost down to US$50 per kg in 2022, when its products will be sold to businesses like restaurants. Challenges remain: Without finalising the recipe, Shiok cannot lock down the exact ingredient suppliers. And the process of acquiring bioreactors - the vessels in which the shrimp meat will grow -will take a year.

"We can see so many new players coming up," Dr Sriram said of the cell-based meat sector. "The next five years will be about who survives, who makes the cut and who is able to support companies like oursmake that step over to large-scale manufacturing."

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Singapore start-up Shiok Meats raises US$12.6 million as alternative protein options take off - The Straits Times