Israeli start-up collaborates with cultured fish veteran

According to a recent press release, the food-tech start-up has signed two agreements with Tufts University to advance the company’s goals in the emerging field of cultivated fish. Under a licensing agreement, Wanda Fish gains exclusive rights to specific intellectual property in fish cell cultivation developed by Tufts researcher David Kaplan, a leader in the field of cellular agriculture.

"We start with a single, one-time sample of a real native fish muscle and fat tissues," explained Kaplan. "We then pursue the replication of the biological growth of fish, with the nutritional attributes, including protein and omega-3 content, as well as the flavour and textural properties. The results are clean, safe fish free of microplastics, mercury, or other chemical toxicities that are commonly found in some of the wild catch."

Additionally, a two-year sponsored research agreement with the university supports Kaplan's research into cellular agriculture-based production of fish tissue. Taken together, the moves will significantly propel Wanda Fish's strategies for producing sustainable, tasty, cultivated fish fillets.

Producing seafood from fish cells is a niche within the alt protein scene that is rapidly gaining ground in the collective quest to address the challenges of the seafood industry. Wanda's development team in Israel is led by R&D Director Malkiel Cohen, PhD, a respected expert in stem cells and genome engineering for the biomedical and AagTech fields.

Wanda Fish was formed in 2021 with financial and technical support from the Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA) and in conjunction with Israeli-based food giant Strauss-Group’s The Kitchen FoodTech Hub. Wanda Fish already secured US$3 million in its pre-seed funding round led by The Kitchen FoodTech Hub.