Upside Foods is a pioneer in the food industry. It can grow meat in labs, directly from real animal cells, that taste like farm-raised meat. This process is more humane and environmentally friendly than traditional farming.
The company has created the world's first cultivated beef meatball, chicken, and duck. Its regulatory-approved chicken filets are the first product to market, and it has more products in the works, including breakfast sausages and chicken patties.
Upside Foods is hoping to take a big bite out of the $137 billion U.S. meat market by enticing carnivores and even some vegetarians to try its cultivated meat products. It's in the very early days of capitalizing on this massive opportunity to produce more socially responsible meat.
The company's enormous opportunity has many investors salivating for its initial public offering (IPO). Here's a guide to everything you need to know about how to invest in Upside Foods ahead of its eventual IPO.
IPO
Is it publicly traded?
Is Upside Foods publicly traded?
Upside Foods is a privately held company. It doesn't trade publicly on stock exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.
Will they IPO?
When will Upside Foods IPO?
As of mid-2025, Upside Foods didn't have an IPO on the calendar. The food technology company likely won't complete an IPO anytime soon. It's still an early-stage company that received approvals from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell its cultivated chicken products in 2023.
How to invest
How to buy Upside Foods stock
Most investors can't buy shares of Upside Foods yet. It's not a publicly traded company, so you aren't able to purchase shares in a brokerage account.
However, accredited investors (i.e., high-net-worth individuals or those with high incomes) can sometimes buy pre-IPO shares of companies like Upside Foods on secondary platforms like Equity Bee or Forge Global. Accredited investors who really want to own shares ahead of its IPO should check out those platforms to see if they have shares available.
Meanwhile, unaccredited investors will have to wait for the company's IPO to buy shares. In the meantime, they can consider alternative food stocks. Here are three top alternatives to Upside Foods that interested investors can buy right now:
Beyond Meat
Beyond Meat (BYND -1.38%) is a leading plant-based meat company. It designs products to have the same taste and texture as animal-based meat, whereas Upside cultivates meat from real animal cells. However, it's a more mature business since it has already released several commercially successful products that generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
Oatly
Oatly (OTLY -5.02%) is the world's largest oat drink company. It focuses on dairy alternatives and has developed and commercialized a growing portfolio including milk alternatives, ice cream, yogurt, cooking cream alternatives, spreads, and drinks. The company is also mature, having developed several commercially successful products that produce hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
Tyson
Tyson (TSN 2.11%) is one of the world's largest food companies focused on protein. It has a large portfolio of well-known meat product brands, but it also invests in alternatives to animal-based protein. An investment in Tyson gives investors some exposure to Upside Foods. The company was an early investor in the cultivated meats company through its venture capital arm, Tyson Ventures.
People who want to buy one of these Upside Foods alternatives can purchase shares in any brokerage account. Here's a step-by-step guide to investing in these food stocks.
- Open your brokerage account: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Investors would follow a similar process to buy an IPO stock like Upside Foods when it goes public. Once shares become available, select Upside Foods' chosen stock ticker to buy shares through your brokerage account.
Profitability
Is Upside Foods profitable?
Upside Foods is a privately held company and doesn't need to publicly disclose its financial data. As a result, there isn't currently any publicly available information on its revenue or profitability.
However, the company is likely a long way from profitability. It's in the very early stages of commercializing its products, with just one product to market so far. Since it only recently started to record revenue, the company is likely a long way from producing a profit.
Should I invest?
Should I invest in Upside Foods?
Upside Foods isn't a publicly traded company yet, but that gives non-accredited investors ample time to thoroughly research the company before it goes public.
Here are some reasons why you might want to buy shares of Upside Foods:
- You like the company's more humane and environmentally friendly approach to producing meat.
- You think consumers will embrace lab-grown meat products.
- You believe Upside Foods can gobble up a sizable share of the traditional animal protein market.
- You want to invest in a company backed by well-known investors like Bill Gates.
- You believe Upside Foods will eventually be able to sell lab-grown meats that are competitively priced.
- You think the company will eventually reach consistent profitability.
On the other hand, here are some factors that might lead you against investing in Upside Foods stock when it goes public:
- You have concerns about lab-grown meat.
- You think the company's products will be more of a fad and won't take a big bite out of the traditional animal protein market.
- You're not a fan of Bill Gates and prefer not to invest in companies he backs.
- You're not sure if Upside Foods can profitably produce lab-grown meat.
ETF options
ETFs with exposure to Upside Foods
Since Upside Foods isn't yet a publicly traded company, you can't get passive exposure through an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF)
However, people interested in investing in the future of food have some ETF options to consider. Here are three ETFs focused on food technology and related companies:
- Global X AgTech & Food Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT:KROP): This ETF focuses on companies advancing innovation and technology usage in the agricultural and food sectors, which includes things like vertical farming, hydroponics, and protein/dairy alternatives. The fund held shares of 32 companies in mid-2025 and had an ETF expense ratio of 0.5%.
- VanEck Agribusiness ETF (MOO -0.53%): This ETF features a portfolio of agribusiness companies related to farming and farming-related commercial activities. The fund had investments across 48 companies in mid-2025 and an expense ratio of 0.55%.
The bottom line on Upside Foods
Upside Foods is a pioneering food technology company. It's developing lab-grown meat from animal cells that tastes like farm-raised meat. It has massive upside potential as it begins to sell its products to consumers.
However, it's just begun commercializing its products. That would make it a very risky IPO if it completed one soon. Investors need to carefully consider the risks before buying shares of Upside Foods.
FAQs
Investing in Upside Foods FAQs
What is Upside Foods?
Upside Foods is a pioneer in the food industry. It created the world's first cultivated (lab-grown) beef meatball, chicken, and duck directly from animal cells. It received regulatory approval to sell its first chicken product in 2023. It hopes to eventually develop and sell beef and seafood products cultivated from animal cells.
How much did Bill Gates invest in Upside Foods?
Bill Gates was an early investor in Upside Foods. He participated in the company's $17 million Series A funding round in 2017 along with several other investors, including Cargill, Kimbal Musk, and Richard Branson. Bill Gates also participated with many existing and new investors in the company's $400 million Series C funding round in 2022. However, there isn't any publicly available information on how much Bill Gates directly invested in Upside Foods.
What are food stocks to invest in right now?
Some of the top food stocks to invest in right now are General Mills (NYSE: GIS), Tyson Foods, Mondelez International (NASDAQ: MDLZ), and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP).
What is Upside Foods' annual revenue?
The privately held Upside Foods doesn't need to publicly disclose its financial data, so there currently isn't any publicly available data on its annual revenue. However, that number is probably very low as Upside Foods is very early in commercializing its cultured meat products.
