REHOVOT, ISRAEL — An Israeli developer of cell-cultured human and animal milk and milk components has closed a strategic investment round led by Danone.
Founded in 2020, Wilk Technologies Ltd. holds patent applications and an approved patent on laboratory production processes replicating the milk-producing cells of humans and other mammals. Last year, the company unveiled a project involving using cell-cultured milk fat to produce yogurt. Wilk is publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “WILK.”
Additional investors include Steakholder Foods and Central Bottling Co. Ltd., which owns Coca-Cola Israel. Steakholder Foods, a cultivated meat company, said it will purchase ordinary shares of Wilk for $450,000 at a 15% discount below the 45-day average closing price, which will give the company a 2.5% stake in Wilk. Steakholder Foods, based in Rehovot, aims to identify synergies with Wilk in addition to the investment.
“We’re extremely excited to announce our strategic collaboration with Wilk,” said Arik Kaufman, chief executive officer of Steakholder Foods. “As part of our commitment to sustainable foods solutions, we see this collaboration as another step in expanding Steakholder Foods’ growing contribution to the food-tech ecosystem and a strategic step in the optimization of our investment and holding structure.”
Tomer Aizen, CEO of Wilk, said, “The ‘W’ in Wilk stands for ‘we’ and represents how, by collaborating with industry partners, we can all work together to establish sustainable means of production that can guarantee the continued supply of milk and dairy-based products for future generations.”Enjoying this content? Learn about more disruptive startups on the Food Entrepreneur page.
