Roslin Technologies

Idea

Introduction

Roslin Tech's goal is to lead the B2B stem cell market for cultivated meat. To make safe, nutritious and affordable cultivated meat the production process needs to start with high-quality starter cells.

We believe the sector is in strong need of better cells. At Roslin Tech we develop high-quality animal stem cells for sale to cultivated meat producers. We have a patent pending for our induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) which are stem cells that self-renew indefinitely and can differentiate into muscle and fat tissue - the main ingredients of meat.

We have started commercialisation and are sending cell and associated know-how to clients around the world with targeted customer support. We plan to commercialise through long-term, collaborative, royalty-based agreements. By making our cells available to producers globally, we help accelerate the development of the cultivated meat sector as a whole through a high-margin, capital-efficient business model.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Roslin Tech is establishing commercial relationships with clients globally. Following an initial evaluation period, Roslin Tech plans to enter long term commercial contracts with clients that provide milestone payments based on performance-based achievements, followed by royalties on our clients’ product sales.

Our baseline business plan aims for an acquisition rate of 6 clients per annum. In order to support this goal we continue to broaden and deepen the cell proposition to aim to capture a significant percentage of the cell market for cultivated meat.

Clients who choose to work with our cells can save significant costs and time from their development by being able to focus on scale-up, product development, regulatory approval, and large-scale production infrastructure. Roslin Tech will use the revenue it receives to continually improve its cell line offering. Our business model is driven by innovation and people and requires significantly less capital than cultivated meat producers would need to bring consumer products to market.

Roslin Tech recently successfully raised over £11m in series A funding in this round led by Novo Holdings, a leading investor in life sciences, and supported by other world class, strategic investors with an interest and shared vision in the sector including Kairos Capital Group, Nutreco, Esco Lifesciences and Future Planet Capital. We now want to invite our wider network of investors to participate in the round.

Monetisation strategy

Roslin Tech intends to offer its cells to clients first under an evaluation license for a relatively modest fee, between £20,000 to £40,000 depending on the client's scope. After extensive quality control, we send the cells in small vials to our clients and work closely with their technical teams to have our cells thrive in their labs.

If the client is satisfied with the cell performance, Roslin Tech and the client will enter a long-term supply and licence agreement. We will agree on a series of milestone payments if client key deliverables are achieved successfully with Roslin Tech Cells, such as passing regulatory approval.

Following the commercial launch by our clients, the client will pay Roslin Tech royalties as a percentage of the client’s product sales that use Roslin Tech’s cells. The combination of evaluation, milestone payments, and royalties, align the interests between Roslin Tech and its client thereby providing a win-win approach.

Use of proceeds

As Roslin Tech is not a consumer-facing meat producer, it can avoid the need to purchase large-scale production facilities and high capital expenses. Our focus on innovating and delivering scientific and commercial deliverables at small scale means our capital can stretch further.

The series A funding will allow us to invest in people and lab facilities to expand our cell line portfolio, to develop protocols for clients to grow our cells, and acquire and service new clients. Funding will also provide a pathway to a series B raise, planned for late 2024 or early 2025 to scale up the proposition prior to a possible IPO.

It should also be noted that Roslin Tech still has an insect breeding venture that is in a pre-commercialisation stage. This venture dates back to Roslin Tech’s origin as a venture builder before it was reshaped into a focused biotech company. The insect venture comprises 10-15% of Roslin Tech’s business and the intent is to spin that out in the future.