Almost a decade since the unveiling of the first lab-grown burger, no business has been able to make it commercially viable. But that’s not stopped the money rolling in.

“Getting ahead of themselves is putting it politely,” says Michele Simon, a public health attorney, food policy expert and founder of the Plant Based Foods Association – and an outspoken critic of cultured meat.

“When this all started being talked about, it was still in the laboratory, the scientific realm and that’s where it pretty much still belongs. It’s not ready for primetime,” she argues. “That’s the part that’s really troubling. That these companies are fuelling these investments and it’s really a lot of talk with very little to show for it. I view it as something that’s in fantasy-land, really.”

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Even those actively investing in this space agree people with deep pockets are leaping in without enough understanding of this deeply technical area. “I’m seeing a lot of people investing in these companies without proper technological due diligence,” says one senior source at an investment fund focused on food tech.

“That’s very foolish.”

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