Singapore-based cultivated seafood company UMAMI Bioworks has been selected by Nestle Purina to join its Unleashed by Purina startup accelerator program.
The Unleashed by Purina program provides support for “innovative startups leveraging technology to improve the lives of pets and their parents,” and UMAMI Bioworks has won a spot in the program’s 2025 cohort.
"Our cultivated seafood protein platform meets the pet industry’s growing need for protein diversity without compromising on nutrition, safety, or sustainability," UMAMI CEO Mihir Pershad said in a release about the news.
UMAMI Product Manager Ashwath Bendre added that “the enthusiastic response [to the pet food protein] from leading global players and startups has been incredibly positive.” Cultivated seafood protein, Bendre said, would be a “core part of the [pet food] industry’s next evolution.”
One of the goals UMAMI aims to achieve through its cultivated protein production is to meet the pet food industry’s need for protein diversity without oveextending natural resources.
According to UMAMI, about 2.5 million metric tons of fish are used for pet food production annually worldwide, and the pet food market globally exceeds USD 100 billion (EUR 96 billion).
“The need for diverse, bioavailable, and sustainable protein alternatives has never been greater,” UMAMI said.
The Unleashed by Purina accelerator program will provide UMAMI Bioworks and nine other 2025 cohort winners with coaches and mentors, as well as access to Unleashed by Purina’s professional networks. According to the accelerator’s literature, it has, to date, helped over 33 startups from around the world scale their products and offerings.
In the past, some accelerator participants have ultimately inked commercial agreements with Purina.
This is not UMAMI’s first foray into alternative seafood protein collaborations for pet food.
In 2024, the company partnered with Friends and Family Pet Food Co.(FnF) to produce what the companies called the “world’s first” cat treats made from cultivated fish.
“[UMAMI’s] mission to provide high-quality, sustainable protein sources while alleviating the ecological pressure on our oceans,” Pershad said regarding the 2024 partnership.
The cultivated cat treats produced by UMAMI and FnF are currently being reviewed by the FDA but are expected to come to market in the San Francisco, California, U.S.A., area and Singapore soon.
