KBW Ventures, led by Saudi Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, has invested in BlueNalu, a leading innovative food company producing seafood directly from fish cells, based in San Diego, California.
KBW Ventures is one of a number of companies who invested in a $20 million funding round, with Prince Khaled a well-known proponent of a vegan lifestyle.
The funding will enable BlueNalu to develop a good manufacturing practices (GMP) pilot production facility in San Diego, expand its world-class team, implement strategic alliances for global operations and distribution, and prepare for its market launch.
BlueNalu secured $4.5m in 2018 and has attracted investors from 11 nations to date.
“BlueNalu has made considerable progress toward bringing cell-based seafood products to the world,” said Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO of BlueNalu.
“We have designed and executed a platform technology in which we will ultimately offer a broad array of sustainable cell-based seafood products to consumers, and our team has been extremely focused on implementing systems and processes that will be needed for cost-effective, large-scale production.”
In January, KBW Ventures invested in Memphis Meats, a US cell-based meat, poultry and seafood company.