The Wall Street Journal reports Startup Producing Cell-Grown Meat Raises New Funding.

German drugmaker Merck and a top European meat processor are backing a startup producing beef from cattle cells, ramping up a race to transform the global meat industry with cell-culture technology. The $8.8 million investment in Netherlands-based Mosa Meat by Merck's venture investing unit and Basel, Switzerland-based Bell Food Group fuels a continuing effort to fulfill growing global demand for meat via a process that developers say requires a fraction of the resources used in traditional livestock and poultry production.

Mosa is led by Mark Post, a Maastricht University physiologist who unveiled the world's first lab-grown burger in 2013, and Peter Verstrate, a food technician at the university. Mr. Post's prototype burger cost $330,000 to develop, but the project encouraged Mr. Post to form Mosa, which previously received funding from Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin.