Upside Foods is a pioneering company in the field of cultivated or lab-grown meat. It was founded in 2015 with a vision to revolutionize the way meat is produced, aiming for a more sustainable and ethical approach to meat consumption. The company is renowned for its advancements in cultivating various types of meat without the need for traditional animal farming.
In 2015, the founders established Memphis Meats, marking the inception of the world’s first cultivated meat company.
In 2016, they achieved a milestone by cultivating the world’s premier beef meatball.
2017 witnessed the cultivation of the world’s first chicken and duck, alongside a Series A funding round supported by influential backers, including Bill Gates, Cargill, Kimbal Musk, Richard Branson, and Threshold.
In 2018, Tyson Foods, the world’s largest poultry producer, invested in the company. Memphis Meats also collaborated with the North American Meat Institute to advocate for federal regulations governing cultivated meat.
The year 2019 saw the co-founding of the Alliance for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation, the world’s pioneering cultivated meat coalition.
In 2020, Memphis Meats rebranded as UPSIDE Foods and secured a Series B funding round with backing from SoftBank Group, Norwest, and Temasek.
2021 marked a transformative period, as the company inaugurated EPIC, recognized as the world’s most advanced cultivated meat production facility in the United States. They also entered into a partnership with the esteemed 3 Michelin-star chef Dominique Crenn.
In 2022, UPSIDE Foods expanded its portfolio by acquiring Cultured Decadence, a cultivated seafood company. They achieved a groundbreaking $400 million close in their Series C funding round, making it the largest in the industry to date. Attaining unicorn valuation, with a privately held valuation surpassing $1 billion USD, UPSIDE Foods became the first cultivated meat company in the U.S. to receive FDA approval.
Uma Valeti, M.D., CEO & Founder, Upside Foods
Dr. Uma Valeti is our CEO and Founder. Uma earned a degree in Cardiology from the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India. After residencies at Wayne State and SUNY Buffalo, Uma completed three fellowships at the Mayo Clinic. He teaches Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University. In 2019, Uma was named a “Global Thinker of the Decade” by Foreign Policy magazine. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and SXSW.
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