DaNAgreen

DaNAgreen Co., Ltd. is a biotechnology company based in Seoul, South Korea, that is carving a niche in the burgeoning cultivated meat market. Founded in 2017 by Kiwoo Kim (CEO), Hyeon-Geun Ji (Jay Jee), and Seungyeon Joo (Jenna Ju), the company leverages its background in biomedical and tissue engineering to address the high costs associated with cellular agriculture. The founding team's experience in biotechnology and medicine spurred the company's initial focus on creating 3D cell culture kits for research applications before pivoting to the food tech sector.

The company's core technology is its proprietary Protinet™ scaffold, a three-dimensional, porous, and sponge-like structure that provides an environment for animal cells to grow and differentiate into muscle and fat tissue. This scaffold is made from plant-derived proteins, making it edible and eliminating the need for separation from the final meat product. DaNAgreen's patented protein crosslinking technology allows for the production of these scaffolds at a significantly lower cost compared to other available materials, a critical factor for achieving price parity with conventional meat. The company claims that producing one kilogram of cultivated meat requires about 23,000 scaffolds, costing only $11.50.

DaNAgreen operates on a B2B model, initially targeting other cultivated meat producers with its cost-effective scaffolds. However, its long-term strategy involves vertically integrating the entire production process by developing its own cell lines, low-cost, food-grade culture media to replace fetal bovine serum (FBS), and optimized bioreactors. The business is focused on producing cultured beef and chicken, with a development timeline of about four weeks for beef and two weeks for chicken from stem cells. Through process automation and technology advancements, DaNAgreen aims to drastically reduce production costs, targeting a price of approximately $25 per kilogram by 2024. The company has secured significant funding to facilitate this, including a ₩8 billion (approx. $6.7 million) Series A round in late 2021 from investors like Lotte Ventures, Hanwha Solutions, and Timewise Investment, bringing its total raised capital to ₩10 billion.

Keywords: cultivated meat, cellular agriculture, scaffolding technology, 3D cell culture, food tech, tissue engineering, alternative protein, biotechnology, cultured beef, cultured chicken, plant-based scaffold, Protinet, bioreactors, culture media, sustainable protein, B2B ingredients, food production, meat substitute, cell-based meat, animal-free protein