Intro

Good morning and welcome to the future 👋

Summer break is on! As announced earlier, starting next week, we will reduce our sending frequency to Tuesday and Thursday over the summer period. Read you next week!

Today’s update is 335 words, 1.7 minutes

Snippets

🤑 A $14,000 mistake: If your car is brand new, be very careful which buttons you press. A Tesla owner was charged over $14,000 for unintentionally purchasing a full self-driving upgrade. Dive Deeper →

🇨🇳 Modern day propaganda: According to a new study, a sprawling network of more than 350 phony social media profiles is pushing pro-China narratives and aiming to discredit those viewed as critics of China’s leadership. Dive Deeper →

🍴 Hard fork: In a major change, Ethereum has officially initiated its ‘London’ hard fork. The hope is that, among other things, the update will stabilize transaction fees. Dive Deeper →

Startup of the day

Gourmey, France

Source: Gourmey

What’s the deal: Founded in 2019, Gourmey aims to produce cultivated and sustainable meat for a conscious and uncompromising generation.

The company has raised a total of $10.2M in funding in 3 seed rounds. .

Underlying trends: Food Production, Life Science

Why it matters: Animal cruelty has become a high-profile issue, and animal welfare activists are very vocal in advocating the banning of animal slaughter for meat, clothing or any other purpose.

Gourmey is a pioneer in the creation of poultry delights from cell cultivation in labs, which are both human and nature friendly. Fois gras, for example, is a French delicacy made from the fatty livers of ducks and geese. Many regions of the world consider production methods to be unethical and unsustainable, and have banned fois gras. Gourmey’s fois gras, in contrast, is completely cruelty-free.

Our take: Gourmey is the first company to produce cultured meat in France. In comparison with competitors around the globe, the company is excelling in developing cultivated meat products that are kind to both consumers and the planet.

But, it is yet to be certified by the health authorities — a huge milestone that must be achieved before Gourmey can really take its place in the market and fully establish its brand.