TurtleTree, a Singapore BioTech company, has successfully raised $30 million in the first tranche of its Series A funding, one of the largest investment rounds to date in Asia’s cell-based food sector.
The funding sees participation from investors worldwide, including lead investor VERSO Capital.
Following this round of funding, TurtleTree has now raised over $40 million to date.
“Amplified by the relentless backing of parties like VERSO Capital, the Series A funds will allow us to scale up our processes and come to a huge step closer to creating a new era of sustainable nutrition,” TurtleTree Chief Executive Officer Fengru Lin said in a statement.
TurtleTree’s Chief Strategy Officer Max Rye also said the funding received has truly opened up a new world of possibility.
“We can now set our sights on turning ambitions to reality, starting with our U.S.-based expansion plans and then moving on to the development and manufacture of our first consumer-ready products,” he said.
Having just launched its Sacramento research and development (R&D) facility in September, TurtleTree will now use the funds to continue expanding its portfolio of sustainable, better-for-you food items. The funds will also be set aside for technology development and talent acquisition, enabling TurtleTree to grow its world-class R&D team.
Together, these initiatives will help TurtleTree scale up its research and production of the highly functional ingredients found in human milk, which offer proven benefits for immune system function, gut health, and cognitive development. One particularly exciting example of these ingredients is lactoferrin, a bioactive protein slated for launch as TurtleTree’s first commercial product.
“After developing a deep understanding of the company and its team, we are confident in TurtleTree’s potential as a cell-based technology platform that will transform the food industry. VERSO Capital will share its wealth of knowledge in corporate finance and operations to help the company validate its unit economics and the overall business plan with its very first key accounts,” said VERSO Capital Managing Partner Julien Machot.
Moving forward, the company will expand into a global biotechnology platform with a vision for transforming performance nutrition, food systems, and cellular agriculture. This will ultimately bring scalable solutions to the cell-based food industry, ensuring people everywhere will have access to the nourishing nutrients of mammalian milk in a uniquely sustainable and affordable way.
TurtleTree is a biotech company dedicated to producing a new generation of nutrition—one that’s better for the planet, better for the animals, and better for people everywhere. Utilizing its proprietary, cell-based technology, the company is creating better-for-you milk ingredients sustainably and affordably, with benefits that extend beyond the dining table and into the heart of humanity.
VERSO Capital is a global merchant banking firm founded in 1958 and headquartered in Luxembourg. The firm focuses on alternative assets, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, and proprietary capital investments. The VERSO model is built on three pillars: equity partnership, off-market transactions, and technology.