Our story began in 2019, when our (at that time future) CEO Roman was working as an independent “technology scout” for BTL, a medical technology company. While reviewing the findings he had gathered with the owner of BTL, his former law school classmate and longtime friend, the topic of “plant meat” came up. Apparently, it had been mentioned at Singularity University as an area with enormous future potential.
Plant-based meat alternatives did not make much sense to Roman, both from a nutritional perspective and because the industry was already heavily funded and crowded with companies. In other words, BTL would simply be “late to the party.” However, while researching the topic, Roman came across an article about cultivated meat, which did make sense to him nutritionally. Unlike plant-based alternatives, cultivated meat was extremely complex, the research was still in its infancy, and there were very few companies and investors operating in the field.
Roman immersed himself in self-study. Animal-based nutrition made sense to him. In truth, Roman did not discover anything fundamentally new. He merely reaffirmed what our ancestors had already figured out millions of years ago: meat is highly energy-dense, meaning smaller portions are sufficient. Meat also provided our ancestors with enough energy for the brain to develop, giving them the capacity to invent better ways of obtaining meat, cooperate as tribes, discover the advantages of cooking meat, and eventually domesticate and raise livestock.
And so the idea of developing cultivated meat was born. The only missing piece was someone who actually understood biology. Fortunately, Roman’s son helped when, in response to the question, “Do you know any biologist?”, he recommended his classmate Jiří, who was one year younger than him. At first glance, it may have seemed absurd to approach a junior high-school student who was still six months away from graduation instead of a renowned professor. But no renowned professor knew how to grow cultivated meat either, so why not try a different approach?
Jiří was immediately fascinated by the project. At first, however, he hesitated to become fully involved because he planned to continue his studies at university. After some persuasion from Roman, he realized he had the opportunity to become part of something truly groundbreaking, and gradually abandoned his academic ambitions to dive headfirst into cultivated meat.
And so, in January 2020, BeneMeat was founded. Why “Bene”? Because ”bene” means “good” in Latin (and Italian).
The next challenge was finding a laboratory where Jiří could begin his research. It was far from easy. After about two months of searching, the two men finally found support at the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences. They equipped a tiny laboratory of roughly 10 square meters with only the absolute essentials and got started. Or rather, Jiří got started, assisted by another part-time student, also a high-schooler, while Roman continued educating himself. He had always hated not understanding the things he worked on.
After six months, the team concluded that the challenge was far from trivial and that Jiří needed more colleagues. Once the team grew to around ten scientists, the original lab became far too small. In September 2020, the company moved for the first time, this time into the Innocrystal building. However, this “designer building” stood isolated among fields, and during autumn evenings people needed the flashlight on their phones just to find the bus stop. The company kept hiring scientists, while knowledge and equipment rapidly expanded. At that stage there were no dedicated research groups or specialized departments. Everyone worked across all major research areas, which only later evolved into separate teams as the company and its expertise grew. Before long, the Innocrystal labs also became too small.
In January 2021, the company relocated again, this time to Technic Park in Prague’s Hostivař district. During this phase, the research team expanded with experts from a wide range of disciplines, not only biologists, but also biotechnologists, bioengineers, materials engineers, chemical technologists, and analytical chemists. As the team learned more about cells, the complexity of the research became increasingly evident, yet both the cells and the company continued to grow. The need for larger facilities became obvious when a single room had to serve simultaneously as a kitchenette, meeting room, and storage space.
From the very beginning, there was a shared enthusiasm for discovery, openness, and a strong desire to learn. This energy, together with a high degree of creativity, unconventional thinking, and the determination to overcome any obstacle, defined the company’s first year and a half. During this period, we successfully achieved the key milestones necessary for the continued development of this ambitious project.
Since Easter 2022, BeneMeat has been headquartered in the Cube building, the headquarters of its investor, BTL. The team continued to grow, and every new wave of colleagues brought fresh perspectives and expertise. Although the relocations did not stop. In 2023, laboratories were moved within the building to occupy larger premises. The “Cube era” also brought many firsts: the first real kitchen, the first patent application, the first product prototypes and production registrations, and even the first maternity leaves.
Finally, nearly five years after the company’s founding, it was once again time to search for new premises. But this time it was not for another office move. It was for something entirely new: a minifactory. A foundational production module, the final stage of development.
Why a foundational production module? Because during preparations for pilot-scale production, we discovered that the supplier industry essentially did not exist. All available equipment was effectively prototype technology. Manufacturers supplied systems designed for entirely different purposes, while our needs differed not only in parameters but also in the level of uncertainty arising from the required integration of chemistry, biology, hardware, and software.
What we needed was something already built at industrial scale. Something that would no longer need to be scaled up, only replicated side by side. Something we could competently define, have manufactured, install, operate, and optimize. Something that would serve as our proof of concept — demonstrating that the process works, is documented, approved, and capable of production — and that would provide fully reliable data for calculations and technology transfer. At the same time, it needed to produce cultivated cells in sufficient quantities for analysis, testing, tastings, product development, and the manufacturing and market launch of final products in order to gather real-world feedback.
So we found and rented a warehouse. We prepared the project documentation, obtained construction permits, and converted the space into a production facility. At the same time (as with everything else) we rapidly learned how production equipment and utilities should be designed and operated. We learned to truly understand it.
The story of BeneMeat began as a conversation between friends and evolved into the effort of two men determined to be useful to people, animals, and the planet. Once, we were a true start-up. And just as our cells grew, so did we. Because we were a small team, the human aspect always played a key role. Roman, our CEO, deserves enormous credit not only for building a group of top experts, but for creating a team based on mutual respect and constructive collaboration. The environment he created fosters a positive attitude toward challenges and a willingness to learn from one another.
Over the past six years, we have achieved incredible success not only in biology, but also in regulation and engineering. We have experienced amazing team-building events and formed genuine friendships through our shared work in the laboratory and later during manufacturing scale-up. Most exciting of all is the realization that there is still so much ahead of us and that our greatest achievements are yet to come.
