Chinese Artificial Meat Startup STARFIELD Raises Funds From Joy Capital, Matrix Partners and Others

Chinese artificial meat company STARFIELD recently completed a round of financing worth tens of millions yuan. Investors include Joy Capital, Matrix Partners China, the well-known US-based evergreen fund New Crop Capital, and a similar Chinese fund Dao Foods Capital. According to publicly disclosed information, STARFIELD is currently the largest domestically funded artificial meat startup in China.

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According to the company, this round of financing will be mainly used for R&D and marketing. STARFIELD said that its next moves in food-tech will not be limited to artificial beef, but will also include fish, chicken, pork and other categories. The company plans to explore different scenarios for plant-based foods, such as snacks and room temperature cooking kits. On distribution, STARFIELD plans to deepen its cooperation with merchants as well as sell its products directly through e-commerce platforms.

Commenting on the investment, the founder of the company who goes by Kiki said, “the emergence of artificial meat is not accidental. As the world’s largest meat consumer, China’s per capita meat consumption is increasing year by year, and problems such as epidemics and natural disasters are constantly affecting the demand of the meat supply market. We need to strive for innovations in food technology. Safe, controllable, environmentally friendly, healthy and delicious artificial meat will become an essential product in the market.”

STARFIELD was established in 2019. Kiki, the company’s founder, believes that as consumers start pursuing healthier lifestyles and getting personally involved in causes like environmental protection and animal protection, “plant-based diets” will rapidly gain popularity around the world.