Finding ways to produce meat without harming animals or the environment is the founding mission of many food tech startups.

And now a publicly listed company has a new approach: genetically modifying plants.

What’s happening:

• Luxembourg based molecular farming company Moolec (NASDAQ: MLEC) has raised $30 million in a new financing round
• The new growth capital will be put towards advancing their research and development projects around genetically modifying crops into meat proteins

Why it matters:

• Being able to produce genuine animal proteins without the need to slaughter animals holds enormous promise for the future of food and reducing the carbon footprint of factory farming
• Moolec is focused on being a first mover in genetically engineering plants to include the genetic information of animals and enable them to produce real animal proteins as a result

Going deeper:

• Moolec was spun out of Bioceres Crop Solutions (NASDAQ: BIOX) and originally went public on the NASDAQ through a SPAC
• The big vision for Moolec is to develop leading edge intellectual property around genetic modification of plants and partner with ingredient processing companies to leverage Moolec’s technology

Market reaction:

• Shares of Moolec are down approximately 85% since they became publicly listed

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