Boston-based foodtech firm Motif FoodWorks—best-known for its meaty tasting heme proteins produced via precision fermentation—is closing down, AgFunderNews has learned.
The firm, which has been engaged in a costly IP battle with Impossible Foods that was resolved this week with both parties agreeing to cover their own costs, told remaining staff the news this afternoon. A skeleton crew will stay on to wind things down at the firm, which is based in Boston and has a market development and research center in Northborough.
A high-profile player in the alt protein field, Motif FoodWorks has raised $345 million since it spun off from Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019 on a mission to elevate meat and dairy alternatives with high impact, low-inclusion ingredients.
The firm, which raised a staggering $226 million series B round in 2021 when money was cheap and interest in alternative proteins was sky-high, has since struggled to navigate a more challenging environment, with investor sentiment souring on meat alternatives amid declining retail sales.*
While Motif has denied that the increasingly ugly litigation with Impossible had deterred potential customers, one source close to the company told AgFunderNews that it certainly didn’t help: “The Impossible lawsuit [filed in March 2022] hurt a lot of the potential of the business and pretty much killed it.”
Perhaps because of the large sums of investment capital pumped into the business, Motif also at times behaved more like a large CPG company than a scrappy startup, the source claimed: “The corporate mentality instead of founder mode definitely hurt the company.”
‘The only winners here were the lawyers’
Another source close to the company added: “The Motif situation has been greatly impacted by the Impossible lawsuit. In the long run, Motif would have hit the same headwinds as all plant-based companies, but the Motif technologies were making tremendous progress as demonstrated by the commercial partnerships the company was securing. Motif had deals done and had POs in hand.
“Impossible knew these deals were being made, as the industry is small and gossips. And Motif was also in talks with Impossible on how the two companies could work together, long before any conflict emerged. Once the lawsuit hit, Motif’s commercial progress came to a halt. As hard as the company tried to work around that lawsuit, commercial partners were too afraid of the implications of the lawsuit.
“Combine that with the slowdown in alt meat, spending huge dollars on a lawsuit, Motif had no option but to turn inward and stop investment. Impossible took a “scorched earth” approach to put Motif out of business and won. But the only winners here were the lawyers.”
Motif has had three CEOs since launching in 2019. Its first CEO, former PepsiCo R&D executive Jonathan McIntyre was replaced by CTO Dr Mike Leonard (IFF, Solae, PepsiCo) in mid-2022, who was in turn replaced by Brian Brazeau (DSM, Cargill, Ginkgo, Novozymes) in November 2023 following a round of layoffs .
High impact, low inclusion ingredients
Motif FoodWorks—which employed just under 20 employees vs a peak of over 70—has commercialized three sets of products to date:
- HEMAMI myoglobin, a heme protein claimed to deliver the flavor and aroma of meat that Motif makes via precision fermentation.
- APPETEX, a hydrogel combining plant-based proteins and carbohydrates that Motif claims can replicate the “springiness, juiciness and bite associated with animal-based connective tissue.”
- Finished products (plant-based chicken, beef, and pork) containing HEMAMI and APPETEX targeting the foodservice market.
The company, which also experimented with providing bioprocessing services to generate revenues last year, also acquired exclusive access to prolamin (a group of plant proteins) technologies enabling plant-based cheese to “melt, bubble, and stretch,” and oleogels enabling more authentic fat textures in plant-based meats.
One former employee told AgFunderNews he was “saddened” by the news. He added: “I have been a vocal proponent of the products Motif developed and the great talent that worked for the company. I have also been vocal that I thought Motif should have leaned into their other great products besides heme. I would have liked to see if those products represented a valid business model.”
Motif did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story…
* According to Circana data crunched by 210 Analytics, US retail sales of meat alternatives fell 10.7% to $1.1 billion in the 52 weeks ending June 30, 2024 (total US, MULO, integrated fresh). Volume sales fell 13.3%. For context, fresh meat department dollar sales were up 2.3% over the same period with volumes up 0.7%, while frozen processed meat sales were up 3.9% with units up 8.1%.