Venture Kick. (11/23/23). "Press Release: Sallea Wins CHF 150,000 to Enable the Production of Fully Textured Animal Proteins". St. Gallen, Zürich & Lausanne.

	Organisation	Venture Kick (CH)
	Organisation 2	Sallea AG
	Product	meat, cultured / cultivated / clean
	Product 2	business development (state/region)
	Index term	Sallea–Venture Kick: grant, 202311 startup award CHF150k from Venture Kick
	Person	Fehlmann, Simona (Sallea 202311– CEO + Co-Founder)
	Person 2	Bünter, Anna K. (Sallea 202311– CCO + Co-Founder)

Addressing the urgent need to produce sustainable food for a growing global population, sallea is expanding the range of cultivated animal protein products beyond minced or processed options. The startup was awarded CHF 150,000 by Venture Kick, winning the third stage of the program.

Producing enough food for a growing world population while reducing environmental damage is a huge challenge. The cultivation of animal protein has great potential to reduce the use of energy, water, and land. Currently, only the production of thin layers of cultivated animal protein such as meat or fish is possible, which limits the offering to minced or processed products, or to end products consisting of mainly scaffold and just a small amount of cell mass. To cultivate fully textured whole cuts, the development of novel cell growth scaffolds is essential. sallea's 3D structuring platform produces edible scaffolds addressing the limitations of current systems by supporting cell growth in 3D besides improving the texture, taste, and nutritional value of the end product.

The overall market size of cellular agriculture is expanding rapidly with an expected growth rate of 93% in the next 10 years, bringing the market for cultivated meat to an estimated USD 20 billion in 2030. First potential customers of sallea received regulatory approval to sell their processed products in the USA this summer. This approval shall pave the way for other companies in the ecosystem and open further opportunities for sallea’s expansion.

The startup will invest CHF 150,000 to strengthen its business development and accelerate its US market exploration.

sallea's Co-founders, CEO Simona Fehlmann with an MSc in ETH materials science, CTO Dr. Nicole Kleger, holding a PhD in ETH materials science, and CCO Anna Bünter with an M.A. HSG are on a mission to revolutionize the foodtech industry with innovative scaffolds.

“Venture Kick was of great relevance for us as it allowed us to push and progress strongly on the business development thanks to the great feedback from the jurors and inputs during the Kickers Camps. Additionally, the funding has allowed us to attend fairs and conferences to expand our network and visit potential future customers in the Netherlands and Israel, which are hotspots for cellular agriculture,” said Simona Fehlmann.

[photo] sallea’s Co-founders: Nicole Kleger (CTO) and Simona Fehlmann (CEO)

sallea’s profile on Venture Kick: https://www.venturekick.ch/sallea

About Venture Kick

The Venture Kick philanthropic initiative provides up to CHF 150,000 in seed funding to Swiss startups and offers a well-structured entrepreneurial path toward building a winning business. Startups pitch to expert juries at three stages to obtain funding and gain direct feedback and access to an international network of 200 successful entrepreneurs and investors. Winners of Venture Kick are eligible for a CHF 850,000 investment from the Kickfund and an InnoBooster grant of an additional CHF 150,000.

Since its launch in 2007, Venture Kick has supported 1,000 Swiss startup projects with CHF 50.3 million. Thanks to financial support, coaching and networking with investors, this initiative has led to the emergence of 783 thriving startups and the creation of 13,305 jobs. Venture Kick counts a portfolio of 675 active high-tech companies and 68 exits. Venture Kick alumni companies have attracted a total of CHF 7.8 billion and represent 64 companies ranked in the TOP 100 Swiss Startups in 2023 (www.top100startup.swiss).

In 2023, Venture Kick will pay out CHF 6.3 million to idea-stage startup projects to bring Swiss science to global markets.

The Venture Kick Foundation is supported by Gebert Rüf Stiftung, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Hauser-
Stiftung, André Hoffmann, Hansjörg Wyss, Martin Haefner, Fondation Pro Techno, ESA BIC Switzerland, and Swisscom.

Find more information on venturekick.ch, with all startup projects supported by Venture Kick, and follow the success stories of our startups on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Record changed: 2024-06-21