Believer Meats files for bankruptcy, drawing the curtain on what was once billed as a breakthrough venture poised to redefine how meat reaches dinner plates. The cultured-meat company, formerly known as Future Meat, entered insolvency proceedings Thursday in the Lod District Court after failing to secure financing to service its debts and operate a massive factory built in North Carolina.
The move follows earlier reporting by Calcalist that the company had already halted operations.
Mounting Debts and a Factory That Never Switched On
Court filings show Believer Meats carries debts of about 34.7 million shekels (roughly $11 million). Trouble accelerated after the company failed to complete payments to the contractor that built its first-of-its-kind U.S. factory designed for mass production of cultured meat. The contractor turned to a U.S. court, securing a receivership order over the facility.
Losses snowballed, investor confidence evaporated, and the venture founded by Prof. Yaakov Nachmia of the Hebrew University now stands at the brink, with about $390 million in accumulated investment effectively erased.
“The company’s assets do not have the capacity to repay its obligations,” Believer Meats said in its filing.
