Meatly

What Happened

Meatly made history as the first company to sell cultivated meat commercially anywhere in the world — via UK pet food — after securing regulatory approval in 2024. It is now using its Series A to build one of Europe's largest cultivated-meat pilot facilities in London.

Why It Matters

Being first to sell cultivated meat commercially anywhere in the world — even via pet food, a lower regulatory bar than human food — is a genuine milestone that establishes real-world precedent for every cultivated-meat company that follows.

The first cultivated meat ever sold commercially — it just happened to be for dogs first.

FET's Takeaway

Choosing pet food as the entry category is a smart regulatory sequencing move — it lets a company prove out production and commercial operations at real scale before facing the much higher bar of human-food approval.