Meatly plans London cultivated pet food facility for 2027

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Meatly, a UK cultivated meat company, says it has raised £10.4 million in Series A funding to build a 20,000-litre production site in London that it describes as Europe’s largest cultivated meat facility, with commercial operations targeted for 2027. The company has already crossed two milestones that make this more than a funding headline: UK regulators allowed its cultivated chicken for pet food in 2024, and in February 2025 Meatly and THE PACK launched a limited retail run of cultivated chicken dog treats through Pets at Home, which Meatly called the world’s first cultivated pet food on sale. The new round includes Oyster Bay Venture Capital, Clean Growth Fund, and JamJar Investments, alongside existing backers including Agronomics and Pets at Home. (startup.eu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is an early sign that cultivated ingredients for pet food are moving from proof of concept to manufacturing scale. In the UK, Meatly’s product has been handled through the animal by-products and pet food regulatory pathway, while the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland are simultaneously building broader guidance for cell-cultivated products, including safety, classification, allergenicity, and nutritional assessment. That means vets may increasingly get questions from pet parents about safety, nutritional adequacy, digestibility, labeling, and how these products compare with conventional or plant-based diets. Industry groups including UK Pet Food have also started publishing factsheets for the sector, suggesting the category is becoming organized rather than experimental. (food.gov.uk)

What to watch: Watch whether Meatly hits its 2027 scale-up timeline, expands beyond limited releases, and generates more published data on nutrition, safety, palatability, and market acceptance. (meatly.pet)