Geltor Partners to Bring Animal-Free Collagen to Food

Last week, Geltor announced a partnership with collagen company GELITA. Based in San Leandro, California, Geltor uses cellular agriculture to grow animal-free collagen protein. Traditionally, collagen is sourced from bones and skin of livestock animals or fish, and Geltor’s collagen via cellular agriculture offers an alternative and sustainable way to get the same product. Without requiring animals.

GELITA is a leading global collagen protein company. On October 17th, Geltor and GELITA signed a letter of intent to develop, produce, and market the first ingestible animal-free collagen proteins. According to the agreement, Geltor will design and produce premium biodesigned collagen and GELITA will conduct clinical research and commercialize the product as one of its portfolio products. Specifically, the two companies plan to develop dietary supplements using animal-free collagen. They aim to launch in late 2020.

This is not GELITA’s first experience working with companies in the alternative protein space. GELITA previously invested in Geltor’s $18.2 million Series A round of funding in October 2018.

Cellular Agriculture and Partnerships

As a global collagen manufacturer, GELITA can use its network to explore how Geltor’s animal-free collagen could be applied across various collagen supply chains. It’s also interesting to note that Geltor and GELITA’s partnership does not limit Geltor from working with other partners to develop other animal-free collagen food products beyond supplements.

Geltor is not the first cellular agriculture company to work with partners to bring a food product to market. In April, Clara Foods, a cellular agriculture startup developing animal-free egg white proteins, announced a global partnership with Ingredion, a global ingredients distributor, to distribute their product as an ingredient.

In November 2018, Perfect Day, another startup that uses cellular agriculture to produce dairy proteins, announced a partnership with Archer Daniel Midland (ADM), a large agricultural processing and food ingredients company. According to Perfect Day, ADM’s expertise in fermentation will help Perfect Day scale their production. ADM Ventures also previously invested in Geltor’s Series A round in October 2018.

Geltor and Animal-Free Collagen

Collagen has many functions and can be used to make many different products, like leather, gelatin, and cosmetic products.

In May 2018, Geltor won the CEW’s Award for Innovation for 2018 for their first cosmetic product: Collume (formerly N-Collage), a collagen product for skincare use. The CEW Awards is one of the beauty industry’s top awards, and it’s promising that Geltor’s innovative product earned them recognition through the industry. Last October, Geltor was also named in CNBC’s list of 100 startups to watch.

More recently, in March, Geltor launched HumaColl21, the first ever human collagen created for cosmetic formulations. Their innovative product is currently being used by Kolmar Korea, a leading personal care manufacturer in Asia, in AHC’s anti-aging face cream “Ageless Real Eye Cream for Face”.

Conclusion

From leather and cosmetics to the food and beverage industry, Geltor’s animal-free collagen highlights how the company can innovate in more than one space and product. With the aim to launch the first dietary supplements by the end of 2020, Geltor will be one of the first cellular agriculture companies to bring a food product to market. Earlier this year, Perfect Day became the first company to release a food product to market through a limited release of the first ever animal-free dairy ice cream.