Funding profile · Cultivated seafood

Shiok Meats

About US$30 million raised between 2019 and 2021, of which US$20.2 million was ever itemised. Acquired in March 2024, share for share, by a rival that had raised US$2.4 million. One shareholder had already written the position down to zero.

$30.0MTotal raised, company-stated from 2021 onward
$20.2MSum of the rounds whose size was disclosed
$12.6MLargest single round: Series A, Sep 30, 2020
$2.4MRaised by the acquirer, UMAMI Bioworks, at the merger

Data as of September 23, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled.

Rounds at a glance

When Round Amount Investors Source
Early 2019 Pre-seed Not disclosed AiiM Partners, Boom Capital, Ryan Bethencourt Trade press
Apr 2019 Seed $4.6M Y Combinator, its first investment in a cultivated meat company; Henry Soesanto, CEO of Monde Nissin AgFunder
Early 2020 Bridge $3.0M Agronomics, Impact Venture, VegInvest, Mindshift Capital AgFunder
Sep 30, 2020 Series A $12.6M Aqua-Spark (lead), SEEDS Capital, Real Tech Fund, Toyo Seikan, Irongrey, Yellowdog Empowers Fund, Ilshin Holdings, Makana Ventures, AiiM Partners, VegInvest, Beyond Impact AgFunder
Jul 21, 2021 Bridge Undisclosed; about $10M estimated Woowa Brothers, CJ CheilJedang, Vinh Hoan, plus existing investors including Toyo Seikan, Big Idea Ventures and Mindshift Capital AgFunder estimate
2021 Grant Not disclosed Enterprise Singapore, Startup SG Tech Proof-of-Value Company-stated
Aug 2021 Acquisition made Not disclosed Gaia Foods, reported as a 90 percent stake Trade press
Mar 13, 2024 Acquired Share for share; no cash disclosed UMAMI Bioworks Pte. Ltd. LSE RNS

What the filings show

Agronomics Limited · RNS announcement · filed Mar 13, 2024

Transaction
Shiok Meats Pte. Ltd. acquired by UMAMI Bioworks Pte. Ltd., share for share
Consideration
Not stated; no cash figure disclosed
Prior carrying value
Position fully written down in the audited results for the year ending Jun 30, 2022
Resulting stake
0.71% of UMAMI Bioworks, fully diluted
New book value
£0.378 million, subject to audit
Filer
Agronomics Limited, LSE ticker ANIC, Douglas, Isle of Man
Filing
RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority · Singapore entity records

Operating entity
SHIOK MEATS PTE. LTD., UEN 201829394W, incorporated Aug 28, 2018
Activity
SSIC 72101, research and experimental development on biotechnology
Second entity
SHIOK MEATS (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., UEN 202140083Z, incorporated Nov 18, 2021, status Struck Off as at Mar 26, 2026
Third entity
SHIOK MEATS INVESTMENTS PTE. LTD., registered Aug 2, 2021 at Innovate 360, Chin Bee Drive
US filings
No SEC Form D located under the company name, and none mentioning it, as at Sep 23, 2026

Reading the filings

  1. The US$30 million headline rests on one round nobody sized.The itemised rounds are $4.6M in April 2019, $3.0M in early 2020 and $12.6M in September 2020: $20.2M, the exact total Vulcan Post reported in September 2020. The July 2021 bridge was announced without a number; AgFunder estimated about $10M, taking the total to roughly $30.2M. In March 2024 The Business Times, citing the Tech in Asia database, put disclosed funding at $20.7M. The gap is that single unsized bridge.
  2. A company that raised about $30 million was bought by one that had raised $2.4 million.UMAMI Bioworks had closed one disclosed round, a $2.4M bridge in 2022, when it agreed to acquire all of Shiok Meats’ assets in a stock deal. A ratio of roughly twelve to one, in favour of the smaller party.
  3. The only number attached to the outcome is a carrying value.Agronomics disclosed 0.71% of UMAMI Bioworks carried at £0.378 million. Dividing 0.378 by 0.0071 gives about £53 million for the whole on the same basis. Agronomics stated no valuation and the figure was subject to audit, so this is arithmetic on a book entry, not a price.
  4. The write-down preceded the deal by about twenty months.Agronomics said the position was fully written down in the results for the year to June 30, 2022; the merger was announced in March 2024. Through the whole period in which the company was publicly targeting a 2023 launch, at least one institutional shareholder carried it at zero.
  5. No US securities filing exists.An EDGAR search on September 23, 2026 returned no Form D filed by the company and none mentioning it, so the usual US cross-check on announced amounts is unavailable here.
  6. The last money in was strategic, not financial.The July 2021 bridge was led by Vinh Hoan, Woowa Brothers and CJ CheilJedang, operating food companies rather than venture funds. Sriram described it as a strategic partnership round rather than one defined by the amount. No priced Series B followed.

Commercial signals

Signal Detail Source type
Regulatory Never appeared on the Singapore Food Agency list of approved novel foods, published April 2026 and covering approvals through October 2025. Public record
Revenue None reported at any point. The company described itself as a non-revenue generating company in 2023. Company-stated
Facilities A research mini-plant opened at Innovate 360 on Nov 22, 2021, inaugurated by Minister Grace Fu. The production plant it was meant to precede was never built. Independent
Headcount Described as 50 or more in 2022. Two rounds of retrenchment in the six months to May 2023 cost half the staff. Company-stated
Launch timing Commercial launch was stated as 2022, then 2023, then 2024. None occurred. Claims versus outcome
Acquirer today UMAMI Bioworks reported US$7.5 million raised to date in September 2025, registered two cultivated white fish pet food ingredients in the EU, and called its Singapore human food dossier final stage. Independent

What to watch

  • Whether UMAMI Bioworks discloses the next round it said in September 2025 it was preparing.
  • How Agronomics carries the 0.71% stake in its next audited results.
  • Any disclosure of the share exchange ratio, which neither party published.

The Shiok Meats story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

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Sources

  1. Public recordAgronomics Limited Announces Shiok Meats Merges with Umami Bioworks, RNSLondon Stock Exchange · Mar 13, 2024
  2. Public recordACRA entity record, SHIOK MEATS PTE. LTD., UEN 201829394WAccounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Singapore
  3. Public recordACRA entity record, SHIOK MEATS (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD., UEN 202140083ZAccounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority · struck off Mar 26, 2026
  4. Public recordSEC EDGAR full-text and Form D search, no results for Shiok MeatsSEC · searched Sep 23, 2026
  5. Public recordSingapore Food Agency list of approved novel foodsSFA, via Green Queen · Apr 2026
  6. IndependentAqua-Spark leads $12.6m Series A round for Singapore alt-seafood startup Shiok MeatsAgFunderNews, Jack Ellis · Sep 30, 2020
  7. IndependentSG alt-meat makers Shiok Meats, Umami Bioworks set to mergeThe Business Times · Mar 13, 2024
  8. IndependentUmami Bioworks Gets EU Registration to Sell Two Cultivated Fish Products for Pet FoodGreen Queen · Sep 2, 2025
  9. CompanyShiok Meats updates, public letter by Sandhya SriramLinkedIn · May 8, 2023

Compiled from Singapore corporate registry records, a London Stock Exchange regulatory announcement, Singapore Food Agency publications, SEC EDGAR searches and published reports as of September 23, 2026. No Regulation D offering notice was located for this company; amounts shown are as reported at the time of each announcement. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in Shiok Meats or UMAMI Bioworks. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.