Analysis

November 14, 2023

“The last thing you expect is a farm in Hoxton” — why this cultivated fat company is setting up a lab space in central London

Central London is known more for corporate high rises and cool bars than scientists in lab coats — but that could be changing


Sadia Nowshin

7 min read

Image: Hoxton Farms

Up the escalator in a swanky high rise of shiny new office space and through what looks like your standard startup HQ furnished with a stocked kitchen and colourful wall decor, there are six rooms equipped to carry out some serious science. They’re kitted out with made-on-site bioreactors, stem cell incubators and other equipment you’d expect to see in a life science campus out in the sticks — not down the road from central London’s infamous Old Street roundabout, edgy coffee shops and the hipsters of Shoreditch.  

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Co-founder Max Jamilly in front of the tissue culture lab
Co-founder Max Jamilly in front of the tissue culture lab
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Hoxton Farms' kitchen, with two men cooking plant-based meat on a pan
Image: Hoxton Farms
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Max Jamilly and Ed Steele, cofounders of Hoxton Farms
Max Jamilly and Ed Steele, cofounders of Hoxton Farms
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Sadia Nowshin

Sadia Nowshin was a reporter at Sifted covering foodtech, biotech and startup life. Follow her on X and LinkedIn

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