Cultivated meat may offer a sustainable future, but it often falls short in one key area: flavour.
Too dry, too bland—it simply doesn’t satisfy like the real thing, at least according to Singaporean startup ImpacFat.
And the missing link? The startup believes that they’ve cracked the code with their cultivated fish fat.
“Nobody’s working on it”
Founded in 2019 by Dr. Shigeki Sugii and Mandy Hon, ImpacFat is a spin-off of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
The idea for the venture was sparked when Mandy reconnected with one of the scientists on the team, a former schoolmate.
Though they had studied science together, their careers took different directions after they graduated—Mandy pursued a decade-long career in the F&B industry, while her friend went on to earn a PhD and join A*STAR, where he worked alongside Dr. Sugii.
“We have been keeping in touch despite taking different paths, and during one conversation, we realised that there was a gap in the cultivated meat industry,” Mandy shared. Many startups were racing to create cultivated meat that could eventually replace traditional sources of protein, yet most overlooked a crucial component: fats.
Nobody’s working on it. Nobody even wants to talk about [fat] because there is some sort of social stigma surrounding the word, but it’s such an important ingredient—we cannot have zero fat in our diets.
– Mandy Hon, co-founder and CEO, ImpacFat
Their cultivated fish fat is free from contaminants
ImpactFat cultivates their fat from fish stem cells which are sustainably sourced from a variety of fish species across the globe.
These cells are then grown in a controlled environment, which means that they are free from mercury, microplastics, and pathogens—contaminants that are commonly present in wild-caught fishes.
The resulting cultivated fat closely resembles natural fish fat, maintaining a semi-solid texture.
“When our fat is incorporated into other [cultivated meat products], it gives them more texture, more mouthfeel,” said Mandy.
Though this could improve the acceptance and perception of cultivated products, there’s no denying that the industry is currently facing significant hurdles.
Many startups are struggling with scalability due to high production costs, and funding is drying up as investor confidence in the sector is beginning to decline—ImpacFat is no exception to these challenges.
Navigating the challenges of the cultivated meat industry
“We use cell-based technology to cultivate our fish fats, and this requires biomedical grade products, which are usually very expensive,” said Mandy.
To lower costs, the startup is seeking to innovate within its production processes. “We are trying to replace every single biomedical component required to create cultivated fish fat with our own in-house media and components,” she explained.
However, the process can be slow and labour-intensive—each step forward requires rigorous testing to ensure that the quality and yield of their cultivated fat remain top-notch.
We need to carry out hundreds of tests, experimenting with different solutions to substitute costly components. This will take up a significant amount of time, as we need to maintain the quality and yield of our cultivated fat at the same time.
– Mandy Hon, co-founder and CEO, ImpacFat
In addition to these challenges, the startup also faced significant hurdles in fundraising, especially since the technology is still in nascent stages.
“It takes many years of research before cultivated meat (and fat) startups can enter the market, and venture capitalists wouldn’t be able to see returns on their investments as soon as other commercial products out there,” Mandy shared.
“So, investors will need to be prepared to wait for a few years before they can actually see revenue. But it’s tough because confidence in the industry has eroded as many startups have failed over the past few years.”
“We need to reassure VCs that the risk of our startup failing is lower”
These challenges have not dimmed the startup’s vision. Although the cultivated meat industry is on shaky ground, ImpacFat has refined its strategy in the space by diversifying its revenue streams.
We needed to let venture capitalists know that the risk of our startup failing is lower, so we had to find new revenue streams.
Realistically speaking, our first product to go to market would most likely not be food, so we’re currently exploring supplements and skincare products. We can extract the oil from our cultivated fat to produce other products like Omega-3 nutritional supplements as well as cosmetics.
– Mandy Hon, co-founder and CEO, ImpacFat
ImpacFat is giving itself two to three years to bring these products to the market, after it closes its seed funding round. Currently, it is looking for additional investors to complete the round, and has secured about 40 to 50 per cent of its target.
Prior to this, the startup has raised a US$200,000 pre-seed funding round with New York-based Big Idea Ventures. “And as an A*STAR spin-off, we’ve also managed to secure grants from the government for a few of our research projects,” added Mandy.
With the additional funding, Mandy shared that the company will be able to scale its equipment and production capabilities. Through their innovations, ImpacFat ultimately hopes to provide healthy, environmentally friendly, and ethically produced products for consumers.
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Featured Image Credit: ImpacFat
