Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud to joins TurtleTree Labs as Advisor

What's the Deal

Mita Srinivasan
What's the Deal
Published:

Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud to joins TurtleTree Labs as Advisor

A recent investment of US$6.2 million in Pre-A funding from Green Monday Ventures, Eat Beyond Global, KBW Ventures, and Verso Capital will allow TurtleTree Labs to expand focus into functional components in milk

KBW Ventures has invested in TurtleTree Labs, the biotech company pioneering the method to produce milk using cell-based technology, for the third time as part of the recently announced $6.2 million Pre-A funding round from new and existing global investors including Green Monday Ventures, Eat Beyond Global, and Verso Capital. In addition to investing, HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, Founder and CEO, KBW Ventures, will join TurtleTree Labs as an Advisor.

In his role as Advisor, Prince Khaled will shape new market growth plans, lend his expertise in the alternative protein and food tech spheres, and liaise closely with the founding team on other areas of the business.

TurtleTree Labs will use the funds to accelerate research and production of functional, bioactive proteins and complex sugars found in human milk. These high-value components have potential benefits in gut and brain health, which can be applied to both infant and senior nutrition.

Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud explained why KBW Ventures invests in startups like TurtleTree Labs, “Our current method of food production is unsustainable, it is also disturbingly-riddled with impurities like antibiotics, chemicals like pesticides, microplastics, in addition to the basic truth that traditional animal agriculture is heavily implicated in the climate crisis. There are so many more reasons; we are investing because we know there is a sustainable and animal-free way to feed the world with clean milk, clean meat, and clean seafood.”

“TurtleTree Labs’ ground-breaking technology, which allowed our company to win The Liveability Challenge and Entrepreneurship World Cup, has certainly attracted interest from a global and diverse panel of investors and customers,” says Fengru Lin, CEO of TurtleTree Labs.

Prince Khaled would love to see similar movement and innovation in this segment in the Middle East. “Currently there are no startups based in Arab countries that are working on cell-based foods. Would I love to see it? Definitely. What’s more likely is that these companies that we have invested in will scale to the MENA region. They are ahead in science, production, and R&D arms already.”