Lab-Made Meat Is Far From Done

Companies need to prove they can scale up as investors sour on projects that take decades to turn a profit

The nascent industry for lab-grown meat is heading into its next stage of development after clearing a major regulatory hurdle. The question is, how many companies will be left by the time anyone crosses the finish line?

In November, Upside Foods received a letter from the US Food and Drug Administration saying it had no questions about the company’s conclusion that its chicken—made from cells grown in tanks—was safe to eat. “This is the moment we’ve been working for for the last seven years,” says Uma Valeti, chief executive officer of the California-based startup. “We are building a field that everyone thought was not going anywhere.”

Although the letter marked an industry milestone, Upside and its competitors still have a way to go before products reach US consumers. Setting up large-scale production will require more money, regulatory approvals and technology. Since 2010, investors have plowed $2.6 billion into the industry; more than half of that came just last year. But funding for all sorts of projects is drying up, and investors are likely to be more skeptical of moonshots that may take decades or more to turn a profit.