Stämm and SuperMeat partner to advance cultivated meat production with support from Varana Capital

Stämm and SuperMeat have announced a partnership to optimize cultivated chicken meat production by integrating Stämm’s novel continuous bioprocessing technology into SuperMeat’s manufacturing workflow. The collaboration is strategically supported by Varana Capital, a mutual investor in both companies, reflecting confidence in the potential impact of this initiative.

Stämm, known for its biopharmaceutical biomanufacturing innovations, is expanding into food technology following promising results in stem cell culture applications. The company’s Bioprocessor, a bubble-free continuous bioreactor, has demonstrated 15x increased volumetric productivity in biologics production, along with significant cost savings.

SuperMeat, a cultivated meat company, recently achieved cost parity in cultivated chicken production, reporting a production cost of $11.79 per pound. The company’s high-efficiency process yields muscle and fat tissue directly from animal cells, setting the stage for cost-competitive cultivated meat products.

Benchmarking Continuous Bioprocessing in Cultivated Meat Production
In the coming months, a joint team from Stämm and SuperMeat will conduct a pilot study at SuperMeat’s production facility to assess how Stämm’s Bioprocessor can be integrated into its end-to-end cultivated meat production process.

“This partnership marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of cultivated meat biomanufacturing,” said Yuyo Llamazares Vegh, CEO of Stämm. “We are eager to benchmark our Bioprocessor’s performance in a food-tech environment and explore how our continuous bioprocessing platform can enhance productivity and cost efficiency.”

The collaboration will focus on enhancing muscle fiber growth, elongation, and fusion into mature muscle tissue, while also improving adipocyte formation—critical steps for developing organic whole-cut cultivated meat. These improvements are expected to significantly increase product mass, ensuring that cultivated meat mimics conventional meat in structure and taste while maintaining cost-effectiveness.

“This partnership demonstrates how complementary technologies can accelerate progress in the cultivated meat industry,” said Ido Savir, CEO of SuperMeat. “By uniting our cell-based production expertise with Stämm’s bioprocessing innovations, we can further optimize muscle and fat tissue formation, bringing cultivated whole-cut meat products closer to commercial reality.”

As part of the collaboration, Stämm and SuperMeat will develop a scaling model for production facilities, assessing the economic feasibility of integrating continuous bioprocessing into cultivated meat manufacturing. Experimental data from the pilot run will highlight potential cost reductions, particularly in culture media efficiency—a key cost driver in biomass production.

The partnership aligns with the growing global demand for alternative proteins, with the alternative protein market projected to reach up to $290 billion by 2035, according to a BCG and Blue Horizon report.

“Israel’s exceptional entrepreneurial spirit and technological leadership make it an ideal ecosystem for alternative protein innovation,” said Ezra Gardner, Co-Founder and CIO of Varana Capital. “By supporting the integration of Stämm’s cutting-edge biomanufacturing technology into SuperMeat’s cultivated meat production, we are helping drive the next phase of scalable, cost-effective protein production.”