AMSTERDAM— Meatable, a cell-based meat startup in Europe, is the latest company to push alternative meat options that will try to break into the protein marketplace.

Meatable states that its technology is based on using a cell from a cow, chicken or pig to create animal muscle and fat cells that grow into cell-based meat.

“In addition to the obvious value of novel meat production methods to society, the business opportunity is enormous,” Meatable CEO Krijn de Nood said. “The global meat market is valued at $1 trillion and is expected to grow significantly, especially with the rise of middle-income countries in Asia.”

The company started from a patented product developed by scientists at the Univ. of Cambridge and Stanford Univ. for this innovative way of creating cell-based meat.

“In conjunction with the work of Professor Roger Pedersen at Stanford Univ., the technology my team has developed overcomes the scalability issues that have been holding back progress in this field,” said Dr. Mark Kotter, neurosurgery clinician scientist and lecturer at the Univ. of Cambridge and inventor of the patented Meatable technology. “The cell lines we’ve developed proliferate indefinitely and produce millions of identical cells, at unprecedented purities and within a very short timeframe.”

The company claims the technology will save the lives of millions of animals and will create clean, healthy meat for consumption. Meatable also claims it could produce meat in three weeks once it is fully operational. Currently, the timeframe for the first product to be produced is three years.

Meatable also announced a $3.5 million investment led by BlueYard Capital, with additional funding from Atlantic Food Labs, Future Positive Capital, Backed VC and several angel investors such as Charles Songhurst and Jörg Mohaupt.

“We look forward to supporting Meatable on its mission to re-create meat from animal cells and become a key player in a post-animal economy,” said Jason Whitmire, general partner at BlueYard Capital and a member of the Meatable Board of Directors. “We believe Meatable’s unique IP and team experience give it defensibility and a head start in solving the greatest scalability challenges of this exciting and emerging market.”