© UMAMI Bioworks
In a bid to expedite the growth and progress of the cultivated, “non-caught” seafood industry, UMAMI Bioworks and Shiok Meats - leaders in the production of cell-cultured marine food products - have announced a strategic merger.
Through the merger, the two Singapore-based companies aim to leverage the unique strengths of UMAMI Bioworks' innovative production platform and enabling technologies, along with Shiok Meats' pioneering research in crustacean cell cultivation. With their combined skill sets, UMAMI and Shiok Meats anticipate increased go-to-market efficiencies, expansion of commercial opportunities, and the acceleration of regulatory approvals and market introduction of cultivated seafood products.
"Uniting UMAMI's platform technologies around continuous biomanufacturing and machine learning-based automation with Shiok Meats' innovative crustacean work offers an expedited path to the cultivation of a range of sustainable seafood products," said UMAMI Bioworks’ chief executive officer Mihir Pershad, in a press release announcing the merger.
“The technological and business synergies of this merger represent a vital strategic step towards addressing the critical challenges of cultivated seafood production and advancing our mission to supply sustainable, not-caught seafood without compromising the planet's Health,” he added.
The newly unified company will be led by Pershad as chief executive officer, with a board of directors that will include global seafood investment leaders Hatch Blue and AquaSpark.
“By bringing together these two iconic companies, we are creating a strong platform to make the vision of cultivated seafood a reality,” said Dr. Sandhya Sriram, chief executive officer and co-founder of Shiok Meats.
“The strong technology and team Umami has built will be the perfect custodian of the progress Shiok Meats has made on crustaceans, especially with our patent recently granted in the EU. I have always believed in consolidation to progress a novel industry like ours. I’m excited by the opportunities for what this new combined organisation will achieve," she added.
*UMAMI Bioworks is part of Hatch's investment portfolio, but The Fish Site retains editorial independence
