Ayana Bio collaborates with Zenfold to acquire Meati Foods' fermentation equipment, significantly boosting plant cell culture capacity in India.
Boston-based plant cell culture startup Ayana Bio has partnered with India's Zenfold Sustainable Technologies to acquire key fermentation equipment from the now-defunct alt-protein company Meati Foods. This acquisition adds 300,000 liters of fermentation capacity at a cost of only $75,000, a strategic move aimed at significantly scaling operations for high-value plant cell products.
Meati Foods, once a notable entity in the alt-meat market, specialized in creating meat alternatives from mycelium and operated a state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility in Thornton, Colorado. After facing financial difficulties over recent years, the company entered the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process in May 2025, opting for an alternative to bankruptcy. Despite being acquired by Meati Holdings, the company ultimately laid off most of its workforce by year-end.
The auction process began in spring 2026 to liquidate Meati's physical assets. While some equipment was sold, the core fermentation assets, which included 12 fermentation tanks of 25,000 liters each, remained unsold. Frank Jaksch, CEO of Ayana Bio, noted that this equipment is valued at several million dollars and crucial for their scaling efforts.
“My firm point of conviction has always been that we didn’t want to run our own manufacturing facility for plant cell culture,” Jaksch explained. “We need to fit into standard equipment available at contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs).” Awareness of Meati's available equipment came to light in December 2026, spurring discussions with Zenfold, with whom Ayana Bio had already established a partnership.
Strategic Shift and New Facilities
Instead of continuing operations in Colorado, Ayana Bio and Zenfold plan to relocate the fermentation equipment to Zenfold's facilities in India. Established in late 2021 and headquartered in Bengaluru, Zenfold focuses on manufacturing specialty and fine chemicals through methods such as green chemistry and synthetic biology.
The newly acquired fermenters will support the creation of a pilot facility dedicated to plant cell development and future production at Zenfold's location. This facility will not only serve Ayana Bio but also provide pilot capabilities to other firms working within the plant cell culture sphere. Jaksch aims for the facility to be operational by the first half of 2027, intending to focus on producing high-value ingredients like rosmarinic acid and saffron derivatives.
“The recent MAHA activities, including the notice to ban synthetic preservatives like BHA, have significantly increased demand for rosmarinic acid as a natural preservative alternative,” Jaksch highlighted, emphasizing the commercial traction for their products.
Cost Efficiency and Technological Advantages
This acquisition fundamentally transforms Ayana Bio's capital expenditure efficiency. Jaksch remarked, “The opportunity to acquire this fermentation equipment, at this cost, is a game changer for our ability to perform consistent and cost-effective pilot scale development on plant cell lines.” By securing these assets at reduced costs, Ayana Bio can accelerate its production timelines for bioactive compounds.
According to Arun Dubey, a director at Zenfold and managing partner at Zenfold Ventures, the challenges faced by Meati were related to real estate and cost structure rather than the quality of the equipment. He noted, “Integrating this high-capacity fermentation hardware into our Indian manufacturing base allows us to offer global partners an unbeatable combination of US biotechnology IP and ultra-efficient Asian scaling.”
Bridging the Gap with Staggered Scaling
Zenfold already operates four 100,000-liter bioreactors, and Jaksch emphasized the importance of first scaling up with the 25,000-liter units. He explained, “When you run a 100,000-liter reactor, you want to be damn sure it’s going to work before you go into it. This bridging with our smaller reactors is extremely beneficial.”
Understanding Plant Cell Culture
Plant cell culture is an innovative approach that allows companies to grow plant cells in controlled bioreactor conditions, rather than relying on traditional agriculture, which involves nurturing fully-grown plants. This method enhances the rapid production of valuable compounds.
Typically, companies initiate this process using plant stem cells or by inducing a proliferating callus from ordinary plant tissue, enabling growth in a liquid suspension. Advocates of plant cell culture highlight several advantages over conventional agricultural methods:
- Consistent supply: The method helps ensure a steady supply of botanicals amid challenges posed by climate change and other global disruptions.
- Controlled production: This technique allows for rapid and consistent generation of plant compounds in stable environments, minimizing pesticide use.
- Sustainability: The approach conserves agricultural resources, using land, water, and energy more efficiently.
- Higher yields: Advanced knowledge of plant metabolic pathways enables higher concentrations of bioactive compounds than those achievable through traditional farming.
As Ayana Bio and Zenfold position themselves as key players in the plant cell culture field, this acquisition may turn significant challenges in scaling into opportunities for innovation, sustainability, and enhanced production efficiency.
