Matrix F.T. — Supplier to the Alt-Meat Gold Rush
The 49ers who first came to the San Francisco Bay Area during the Gold Rush needed supplies. Entrepreneur Levi Strauss, in fact, made his fortune not as a prospector, but as a supplier of things the prospectors needed: namely, the sturdy blue jeans with rivets that would wear well in all kinds of rough circumstances.
Meet a modern-day Levi Strauss: Matrix F.T. interim CEO Teryn Wolfe. Wolfe and I chatted on a recent Business for Good Podcast episode about her company, and it’s an episode you’ll surely enjoy. Naturally enough, Matrix F.T. (the abbreviation stands for “Food Technologies”) is working in the alternative meat space.
The enabling technology niche
Matrix F.T. doesn’t produce cultivated meat itself. It provides what Wolfe calls the “enabling technology” to support the cultivation and scaling of alternative meat products.
Founded in 2019 as a collaborative effort using the resources of Ikove Startup Nursery and Nanofiber Solutions, the company was originally called Matrix Meats. It later changed its name to better reflect its brand identity as a key player in this growing B2B market.
The matrix behind Matrix F.T.
The company’s product takes on the characteristics of an extracellular matrix. That’s the structure — the backbone, if you will — that cells attach to and grow around in the real world. In this way, they develop into muscular or other types of tissue. The extracellular matrix produced by Wolfe’s company is formed in a bioreactor when cells adhere to micro-carriers and begin proliferating.
That all leads right into Matrix F.T.’s central business model: building micro-carriers and scaffolding in service to the alt-protein sector.
To make its complex micro-carrier scaffolding, Matrix F.T. uses a variety of technologies. But at the heart of everything is a technique called electrospinning, a nanotechnology fabrication method that uses electrical force to produce thin fibers by pulling charged polymer threads together.
Electrospinning doesn’t call for high-temperature or advanced coagulation methods, which helps it yield excellent results using larger molecules. Once you have your ultra-tiny fibers prepared, other fiber cells will adhere to them, forming the scaffolding arrangement of the fibrous, protein-rich material. The final product gives you an actual “cut” of muscle tissue.
As Wolfe pointed out, the technology that allows Matrix F.T. to do all these things has been in use for decades. The technique draws on a number of scientific fields, including regenerative medicine. The hurdle that Matrix F.T. crossed involved the practical application of these techniques to create a safe and texturally appealing basis for an alternative meat product.
A first for Ohio
Matrix F.T. has also scored a PR coup as the producer of the first alternative meat chicken nugget in Ohio.
Wolfe’s team made their first nugget samples using cells from a nearby university and growing them in their own wet lab. The resulting product was about 20 percent harvested animal cells and 80 percent plant protein.
The company was cautious about publicizing it, given that it didn’t want consumers to think it was going into the alternative meat production business itself. Wolfe emphasized that Matrix F.T. has always built its brand as a supplier of the raw materials and manufacturing processes that will help those who do produce cultivated meats as they work to improve their products.
Building on a varied background
Wolfe, a longtime vegan — sometimes vegetarian — spent time in Spain when she was young, discovering the differences between meat sourcing and production there and the system in the United States.
She observed something similar when she lived in Colombia as a Fulbright research fellow. In Colombia, she founded and led Measurement Matters, providing consulting services in the social-environmental-project design space. That’s when she met Matrix’s original CEO, who introduced her to the nascent company.
Always a follower of developments in the alternative meat space, Wolfe loved the idea of working for the company, but didn’t want to leave the beautiful beaches of Santa Marta in Colombia. When the logistics came together for her, though, it was as if had all been meant to be.
From director of corporate development and strategic relationships in 2021, to vice president, to CEO, she’s worked with a company whose leaders spotted and, yes, cultivated her ability to take her current leadership role early on.
Food-safe materials for every cultivated meat need
To date, Matrix F.T. has raised $4 million in capital and hired about 10 employees.
The confusion over the timing of FDA clearances in 2022 threw B2B suppliers for an especially big loop. Wolfe pointed out that her emerging industry is almost completely funded from venture capital, which complicated the picture further as companies had to play the waiting game until later that year. She’s hoping the U.S. government will become more proactive about funding research projects and building industry support.
Today, Matrix F.T. offers an array of customizable, food-safe, plant-based proteins free of gelatin and any other animal-derived products. Cultivated meat producers should find plenty here on which to build their next great taste for future generations to enjoy. For now, go enjoy this episode!
