UPSIDE Foods
UPSIDE Foods is a US cultivated meat company that grows real chicken from animal cells, selling wholesale to foodservice operators through direct restaurant partnerships and a network of specialty distributors across the United States.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBerkeley, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What UPSIDE Foods does
UPSIDE Foods (legal name The UPSIDE Group Inc.) is a US cultivated meat company founded in 2015 (originally as Memphis Meats) and headquartered in Berkeley, California. The company produces real chicken meat by growing animal cells in cultivators rather than raising and slaughtering birds, operating two proprietary platforms: a suspension cell culture platform (for ground-textured blended products) and a tissue culture platform (for whole-textured products such as filets). Current production runs at 2L to 2,000L scale in the company's EPIC (Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center) facility in Emeryville, CA, which has a designed capacity of approximately 50,000 pounds annually, with planned 100,000L cultivators at the announced Rubicon commercial-scale facility in Glenview, Illinois. UPSIDE is also developing proprietary 100% animal component-free cell feed in-house, eliminating fetal bovine serum.
UPSIDE is the first company in the world to receive FDA approval (November 2022) and among the first to receive USDA approval (June 2023) for cultivated meat in the United States, and made the first commercial cultivated meat sale in the country at Bar Crenn in San Francisco in July 2023. The company generates revenue through one-time wholesale sales of cultivated chicken products (Chicken Diced, Chicken Blocks, with Chicken Shreds in development) to foodservice operators via direct restaurant partnerships and a six-distributor network including Baldor Specialty Foods, Chefs' Warehouse, Golden Gate Meat, Sysco, and US Foods. Customers are primarily upscale restaurants and Michelin-level chefs, supported by private tasting events and influencer activations (e.g., a MrBeast facility-tour video exceeding 70 million views).
The business model is currently pre-scale: production volume is constrained to tens of thousands of pounds annually, revenue is undisclosed, and the company faces material headwinds including a sector-wide cultivated meat funding downturn, state-level bans in multiple US states, layoffs, and restructuring. UPSIDE has raised approximately $608 million in total venture funding (notably a $400M Series C in April 2022 led by Temasek and Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, valuing it above $1B) and is pursuing diversification through the 2022 acquisition of Cultured Decadence (cultivated seafood), the planned Rubicon commercial plant, and the 2026 launch of Lucius Labs (selling cell culture media to biotech).
UPSIDE Foods firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- UPSIDE Foods
- Legal name
- The UPSIDE Group Inc.
- Website
- https://upsidefoods.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- UPSIDE Foods is a US cultivated meat company that grows real chicken from animal cells, selling wholesale to foodservice operators through direct restaurant partnerships and a network of specialty distributors across the United States.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
UPSIDE Foods industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cultivated Meat
- NAICS
- Poultry Processing (311615), Animal Slaughtering and Processing (31161)
- SIC
- Poultry Slaughtering And Processing (2015), Food And Kindred Products (2000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Finished Meat-Alternative Prepared Foods (Nuggets, Burgers, Sausages, Ready Meals) (AFANAKAO)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Ground & Formed Poultry Products (Ground, Sausages, Formed Portions) (AFANACAE)
Keywords
Where UPSIDE Foods is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berkeley
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
UPSIDE Foods business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Cultivated Chicken Product Sales: UPSIDE Foods generates revenue through the sale of cultivated chicken products to foodservice partners. Products include Chicken Diced, Chicken Shreds (coming soon), and Chicken Blocks, sold to restaurants and through foodservice distribution channels including Baldor Specialty Foods, BiRite, Chefs' Warehouse, Golden Gate Meat, Sysco, and US Foods.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Foodservice volume-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
UPSIDE Foods product offering
Product offeringCore offering
UPSIDE Foods produces cultivated (cell-grown) chicken meat by growing real animal cells in controlled bioreactors, without raising or slaughtering animals. The company sells its cultivated chicken products—including Chicken Diced, Chicken Shreds, and Chicken Blocks—to foodservice operators (restaurants and chefs) through direct partnerships and specialty foodservice distributors.
Product overview
UPSIDE Foods is a cultivated meat company offering cultivated chicken products for the foodservice industry. Their product portfolio consists of three cultivated chicken formats: Chicken Diced (available now), Chicken Shreds (coming soon), and Chicken Blocks. These products are produced through cell cultivation - growing real animal cells in controlled bioreactors rather than raising and slaughtering animals. The company operates their EPIC (Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center) facility in Emeryville, CA, with plans for commercial-scale production at their Rubicon facility in Glenview, Illinois. All products are designed for restaurant and foodservice operators.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Chicken Diced Diced cultivated chicken product made from real animal cells, designed for foodservice use in culinary applications including sandwiches, salads, and entrees.
- Chicken Shreds Shredded cultivated chicken product designed for foodservice applications such as tacos, bowls, and shredded chicken dishes; marked as Coming Soon.
- Chicken Blocks Whole-textured cultivated chicken blocks suitable for versatile foodservice culinary applications, with 99%+ cultivated cells and structure similar to conventional chicken.
Quantifiable outcome
- Production of cultivated chicken with up to 90% less land use, 70-80% less water use, and up to 94% fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional chicken production
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use UPSIDE Foods
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
UPSIDE Foods technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
UPSIDE Foods partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, flagship, core and supporting.
- Cultured DecadencestrategicWisconsin-based cultivated seafood company acquired in January 2022 to expand UPSIDE's seafood product portfolio and advance sustainable, humane seafood production amid climate change and animal welfare concerns.
- Chef Dominique CrennflagshipThree-Michelin-starred chef partnered with UPSIDE to develop recipes and serve cultivated chicken at Atelier Crenn/Bar Crenn in San Francisco. Chef Crenn served as first commercial outlet for cultivated meat sales in July 2023, hosting monthly tasting events.
- Baldor Specialty FoodscorePrimary distributor for UPSIDE cultivated chicken products serving restaurants and foodservice operations in the US market.
- SyscocoreMajor foodservice distributor distributing UPSIDE cultivated chicken products to restaurants and foodservice customers.
- US FoodscoreFoodservice distributor offering UPSIDE cultivated chicken products through their distribution network to restaurant customers.
- Chefs' WarehousesupportingSpecialty foodservice distributor serving upscale restaurants with UPSIDE cultivated chicken products.
- BiRitesupportingSpecialty food distributor distributing UPSIDE cultivated chicken products, primarily serving the San Francisco Bay Area market.
- Golden Gate MeatsupportingRegional specialty meat distributor in the San Francisco Bay Area distributing UPSIDE cultivated chicken products.
- Chris Anderson (TED Curator)supportingCurator of TED conferences participated in cultivated chicken tasting event in New York, providing thought leadership endorsement and public endorsement of the technology.
- Meat InstitutestrategicUPSIDE Foods became the first cultivated meat company to join the Meat Institute, the nation's oldest and largest trade association representing meat and poultry packers and processors. Membership enables collaboration with industry leaders, policy influence, and integration of cultivated meat into mainstream meat industry conversations.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
UPSIDE Foods competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Aleph Farms: Aleph Farms (Israel) produces cultivated beef steaks using cell-cultivation technology comparable to UPSIDE's tissue-engineering approach. It pursues regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions and a similar premium-foodservice commercialization strategy, making it a leading international peer in the cultivated meat category.
- Future Meat Technologies: Future Meat Technologies (Israel) is a cultivated meat company that, like UPSIDE, operates a large-scale production facility and pursues cost-down scaling of cell-cultivated chicken and beef. It is one of the few peers globally to have publicly demonstrated industrial-scale bioreactor output comparable to UPSIDE's 2,000L cultivator runs.
- Mosa Meat: Mosa Meat is a leading cultivated beef company (Netherlands) that, like UPSIDE, focuses on cell-cultivated real meat from animal cells without slaughter. While species differ (beef vs. chicken) and geography differs, the underlying technology stack — large-scale bioreactors, proprietary cell feed, and regulatory approval pursuit — is directly comparable.
- Meatable: Meatable (Netherlands) develops cultivated pork and beef using a similar proprietary cell-cultivation platform, targeting foodservice and retail with a focus on scalable, slaughter-free meat production. It is a direct peer in cultivated meat technology and commercialization approach.
- GOOD Meat (Eat Just): GOOD Meat is the only other company besides UPSIDE to have received USDA approval for cultivated meat sales in the US, making it the most direct head-to-head competitor in cultivated chicken. Both target foodservice-first commercialization with chef partnerships and operate their own large-scale bioreactor facilities.
- Believer Meats: Believer Meats is a cultivated meat company that built a large-scale production facility in North Carolina (which UPSIDE is now bidding to acquire). It is one of the closest direct peers in terms of product (cultivated meat) and stage, both targeting FDA/USDA approval and US foodservice launch.
Emerging players
- BlueNalu: BlueNalu is a cultivated seafood company pursuing FDA approval and large-scale production of cell-cultivated fish products. It overlaps with UPSIDE's cultivated-meat technology stack and foodservice-first commercialization motion, though its focus on seafood makes it a more adjacent emerging player.
- Wildtype: Wildtype produces cultivated seafood (salmon), making it comparable to UPSIDE's Cultured Decadence subsidiary and to UPSIDE's broader species-agnostic platform. It targets sushi and premium foodservice channels with cell-cultivated fish, sharing the same regulatory and consumer-acceptance challenges as UPSIDE.
Broad incumbents
- Impossible Foods: Impossible Foods is a leading plant-based meat company with established foodservice distribution (including Burger King, Starbucks, and major distributors) that overlaps with UPSIDE's target channels. It is a broad incumbent in the alternative-protein space rather than a direct technology competitor, but it competes for the same shelf space, menu placement, and consumer awareness.
- Beyond Meat: Beyond Meat is a large, publicly-traded plant-based meat company competing in the alternative-protein category that UPSIDE's cultivated meat also targets. While the production technology is fundamentally different (plant-based vs. cell-cultivated), Beyond Meat serves the same end customer and distribution channels and represents the incumbent alternative-protein brand.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
UPSIDE Foods social profiles
Digital presenceUPSIDE Foods financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
UPSIDE Foods leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
UPSIDE Foods subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
UPSIDE Foods funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds7 records
Investors35 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
UPSIDE Foods M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about UPSIDE Foods
What does UPSIDE Foods do?
UPSIDE Foods produces cultivated (cell-grown) chicken meat by growing real animal cells in controlled bioreactors, without raising or slaughtering animals. The company sells its cultivated chicken products—including Chicken Diced, Chicken Shreds, and Chicken Blocks—to foodservice operators (restaurants and chefs) through direct partnerships and specialty foodservice distributors.
Is UPSIDE Foods a public or private company?
UPSIDE Foods is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was UPSIDE Foods founded?
UPSIDE Foods was founded in 2015. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is UPSIDE Foods based?
UPSIDE Foods is headquartered in Berkeley, United States, in the North America region.
How does UPSIDE Foods make money?
One revenue line is on record: cultivated Chicken Product Sales.
Who are UPSIDE Foods's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Aleph Farms, Future Meat Technologies, Mosa Meat, Meatable, GOOD Meat (Eat Just) and Believer Meats. Emerging players are BlueNalu and Wildtype. Broad incumbents are Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.
Does UPSIDE Foods have an API?
No public API is recorded for UPSIDE Foods.
What industry is UPSIDE Foods in?
UPSIDE Foods's product category is Cultivated Meat. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFANAKAO, Finished Meat-Alternative Prepared Foods (Nuggets, Burgers, Sausages, Ready Meals), with a secondary code of AFANACAE, Ground & Formed Poultry Products (Ground, Sausages, Formed Portions). Its NAICS code is 311615 and its SIC code is 2015.