Cell-Based Milk Startup TurtleTree Labs Completes Pre-Seeding Round

Using proprietary mammary cell-based methods, TurtleTree claims to be the first biotech company in the world with the ability to create milk from all mammals.

FREMONT, CA: TurtleTree Labs, a Singapore-based company working with biotechnology to create milk from animal cells, completed its pre-seeding round. Co-founded by CEO Fengru Lin, CSO Rabail Toor, and Chief Strategist Max Rye, the company is the world’s first cell-based milk company to use a proprietary technology that uses mammary cells to produce milk, with no animal needed.

Lever VC, a venture capital fund specializing in alternative protein investment, led the round with participation from KBW Ventures and K2 Global. The company will use the funds to build its scientific team and to create additional prototypes.

“What TurtleTree Labs is doing is fascinating, and their technology could be a serious disruptor in the global dairy industry,” says Nick Cooney, founder, and managing partner at Lever VC. “They are the first company in the world producing real, whole milk from cell cultivation,—which opens the door for safer, healthier, and customized dairy products that can be produced with far fewer natural resources.”

TurtleTree hopes to launch the world’s first cultivated milk and human breast milk products in spring and intends to open a pilot factory in Singapore by late 2020. The company wants to work with industry leaders to follow their sustainable and safe methods to create milk, instead of building itself as a rival to companies such as Nestle and Danone. Apart from that, the company also plans to start developing derivative products such as cream, butter, and yogurt.

“KBW Ventures’ interest in TurtleTree stems from both the team vision and the company’s strategic approach to the future of food using stem cell technology. Having spent time with the founding team in Singapore, we have a lot of confidence in TurtleTree’s progress as a biotech company, and in the direction, they are taking from a business perspective,” says Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, founder, and Chief Executive Officer, KBW Ventures.