For Steakholder Foods investors and cultivated meat/cellular agriculture watchers, last week was an important one. On Wednesday, a governmental delegation headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology paid an official visit Steakholder's main premise in Israel. Therein, he made history by being the first prime minister in the world to sample cultivated fish, and one of the select few to taste a full cut of cultivated meat. Other VIPs that were part of the delegation included Director General for the Ministry of Health (Bar Siman Tov, basically like Israel's Dr. Fauci), CEO of the local Innovation Authority, and CEO of food-giant Osem-Nestle.
As to be expected from such an event, global press has widely covered the event, and it represents one of if not THE highest profile visit to a cultivated meat innovator from a world leader. Beyond the optics of having a well-known head of state tasting cultivated meat dishes in real-time, the visit sends a strong signal to the cellular agriculture space in Israel (where a number of innovators call home, including STKH and Aleph Farms) that they can expect public-sector support and potentially even future funding for research down the road.
For STKH investors, this event was the catalyst shareholders have been yearning for after a relatively stagnant Q1 '23, in which share price failed to bounce back from the public offering closed in January. That said, STKH is +27% for the past month, significantly outpacing NASDAQ's 3.4% gains and the smart food and bev index's nearly 4.5% rise. A clear reversal in MACD is also a strong signal of bullish momentum in the short-to-intermediate term.
Beyond the nice gains from the past few days, I interpret the visit of PM Netanyahu to STKH's HQ as a solid portent regarding LT public sector support for cultivated meat innovation. Ultimately, companies like STKH need external funding to fuel R&D, and this is no easy task in today's current fiscal climate. That said, public sector/governmental support for such efforts presents a clear solution for the funding issues STKH and its peers are grappling with, and Israel may be one of the first locales to begin experiencing the windfall from such support.
On a final note, the recent visit to STKH should be seen as a victory for the cellular agriculture industry as a whole. Food security is absolutely a strategic asset for any nation, including Israel. Once innovators in the field are more broadly seen as the guarantors of food security, the hope is that increased public sector and high-profile support will keep coming, which will accelerate both go-to-market as well as adoption by consumers. Though a technical pullback is likely after STKH robust gains last week, the historic visit by the PM and other senior officials is a big win for Steakholder Foods and the broader industry as a whole.
As to be expected from such an event, global press has widely covered the event, and it represents one of if not THE highest profile visit to a cultivated meat innovator from a world leader. Beyond the optics of having a well-known head of state tasting cultivated meat dishes in real-time, the visit sends a strong signal to the cellular agriculture space in Israel (where a number of innovators call home, including STKH and Aleph Farms) that they can expect public-sector support and potentially even future funding for research down the road.
For STKH investors, this event was the catalyst shareholders have been yearning for after a relatively stagnant Q1 '23, in which share price failed to bounce back from the public offering closed in January. That said, STKH is +27% for the past month, significantly outpacing NASDAQ's 3.4% gains and the smart food and bev index's nearly 4.5% rise. A clear reversal in MACD is also a strong signal of bullish momentum in the short-to-intermediate term.
Beyond the nice gains from the past few days, I interpret the visit of PM Netanyahu to STKH's HQ as a solid portent regarding LT public sector support for cultivated meat innovation. Ultimately, companies like STKH need external funding to fuel R&D, and this is no easy task in today's current fiscal climate. That said, public sector/governmental support for such efforts presents a clear solution for the funding issues STKH and its peers are grappling with, and Israel may be one of the first locales to begin experiencing the windfall from such support.
On a final note, the recent visit to STKH should be seen as a victory for the cellular agriculture industry as a whole. Food security is absolutely a strategic asset for any nation, including Israel. Once innovators in the field are more broadly seen as the guarantors of food security, the hope is that increased public sector and high-profile support will keep coming, which will accelerate both go-to-market as well as adoption by consumers. Though a technical pullback is likely after STKH robust gains last week, the historic visit by the PM and other senior officials is a big win for Steakholder Foods and the broader industry as a whole.