VANCOUVER, BC. – South Africa-based Mogale Meat Co., a portfolio company of CULT Food Science Corp., successfully developed its first cell cultured chicken breast product. The chicken breast is made of real chicken muscle and fat cells blended with a mushroom matrix, according to the company, which was founded by Dr. Paul Bartels, a wildlife veterinarian with more than 25 years of experience in biobanking, cell culture and assisted reproduction technologies.

The chicken breast prototype has been eight months in the making, and it is Mogale Meat’s entry to the global XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion, a multi-year competition with a $15 million prize purse. The competition incentivizes teams to produce multiple consistent cuts of cell-cultured chicken breast or fish filet alternatives.

Mogale also is working toward its first cultivated wildlife meat prototype which the company plans to reveal later this year. Mogale is striving to improve the socio-economic and environmental impacts of consumer protein products in Africa.

“Our next goal will be game meats, a variety of meats that are not only widely consumed in Africa, but also sought after as healthy lean meats in many countries around the world,” said Bartels, chief executive officer of the company. “Game meats are also the tastiest of the venison meat family, due to the great variety of species found in southern Africa.

“Cultivated meat is destined to play a significant role in conserving biodiversity and wildlife species in Africa and beyond,” Bartels added.

CULT management expects Mogale to quickly expand as the company prepares to open a seed round of funding in the second or third quarter of 2022.

“The opportunities presented by advancements in technology to allow for Mogale to be able to cellularly cultivate chicken in a more sustainable fashion is incredible and will undoubtedly lead to a better future in Africa and the rest of the world,” said Lejjy Gafour, president of CULT. “We are thrilled for Mogale Meat and its accomplishments thus far, and we look forward to it continuing to blossom in the cellular agriculture industry and beyond.”

CULT Food Science Corp. is an investment platform with an exclusive focus on cellular agriculture.