Motif FoodWorks
Motif made a heme protein to give plant-based meat its flavour, then closed in 2024 after a patent fight
- Founded
- 2019
- Closed
- 2024
- Lifespan
- 5 years
- Total funding
- $345 million
- Country
- United States
- City
- Boston
- Sector
- Food and drink
- Founders
- Ginkgo Bioworks
- Investors
- Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, BlackRock, General Atlantic, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Viking Global Investors
- At its peak
- USD 226 million Series B in June 2021, USD 345 million in total
- Cause of closure
- Regulation and legal issues
What did it do?
Motif FoodWorks was a Boston food technology company spun out of Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019. It aimed to give plant-based meat a meaty flavour with HEMAMI, a heme protein identical to bovine myoglobin and made by precision fermentation. It also developed APPETEX, a hydrogel that mimics the texture of animal connective tissue. In 2023 it began offering finished plant-based products and bioprocessing services.
Why did it shut down?
It raised a USD 226 million Series B in June 2021, taking total funding to USD 345 million, while alternative protein investment peaked at USD 5.6 billion in 2021 and fell to USD 1.6 billion in 2023. In March 2022 Impossible Foods sued over heme protein patents. According to a source quoted by AgFunderNews, large companies were reluctant to work with the ingredient while the case was pending. After several rounds of layoffs, staff fell from more than 70 to fewer than 20, and the chief executive changed twice, in 2022 and 2023. In early September 2024 the parties settled with each covering its own costs, and the heme business went to Impossible. Staff were told on 6 September 2024 that the company was closing.
The story
What plant-based meat often lacks is flavour. Motif FoodWorks set out to close that gap by getting microbes to make a protein. Spun out of Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019, it developed a heme protein identical to bovine myoglobin and named it HEMAMI. In June 2021 it raised USD 226 million in a round led by Ontario Teachers' and BlackRock.
The timing looked perfect then. USD 5.6 billion flowed into alternative proteins in 2021. But in March 2022 Impossible Foods sued over heme protein patents. Motif wanted to sell its ingredient, and large food companies did not want to go near one caught up in litigation. The company said the case had not put customers off; a source told AgFunderNews it had pretty much killed the business.
The market was shrinking too, with US retail sales of meat alternatives down 10.7% in the year to June 2024. A settlement came in early September 2024: the heme business went to Impossible and each side paid its own costs. On 6 September the fewer than 20 remaining staff were told it was over.
Lessons for founders
- If you rest on one product, map your rival's patents before you raise. Motif's best-known ingredient became something corporate buyers would not touch while the case ran.
- If you sell an ingredient to other businesses, your customer's fear is your risk too. Large food groups avoid uncertainty even before any ruling, so build your legal defence alongside your sales plan.
- A big round signals a rising market, not safety. Sector funding fell to under a third between 2021 and 2023; plan your costs as though the next round will not come.
Sources
- Exclusive: Boston-based foodtech startup Motif FoodWorks is closing down (AgFunderNews, 2024-09-06)
- Days After Settling Impossible Foods Lawsuit, Hemami Maker Motif FoodWorks is Shutting Down (Green Queen, 2024-09-09)
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