Sustainable Seafood Meets Biotech: Wildtype

​Register early to taste test! Price increases on Tuesday.

Cultured and cell-based foods represent a rapidly expanding industry and Northern California is leading the charge.

​San Francisco-based Wildtype, which focuses on sustainable cell-cultivated seafood, recently raised $100 million from investors Jeff Bezos, S2G Ventures and Leonardo DiCaprio.

• ​Market Growth: The global market for cell-based food products is valued at approximately $3.2 billion, with projections indicating rapid scaling to $28.4 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 32%.

• ​Regional Advantage: Northern California boasts the highest concentration of cell-based agtech firms. This advantage stems from a deep talent pool, specialized capital networks and local institutions that can significantly shorten research and development cycles.

​Discover how CEO and co-founder Justin Kolbeck is driving product development and consumer demand, partnering with chefs, plus expanding into global markets. Kolbeck will outline career and business development pathways within this cutting-edge industry.

Join us aside the harbor:

• ​no-host bar

• ​affordable meal for purchase

• ​industry networking

• ​speaker presentation

​More info: https://sfbluetech.com/climate-tech-events/september-happy-hour-2026/

Justin Kolbeck is CEO of Wildtype, a San Francisco-based company which produces cultivated seafood. Co-founded with cardiologist Arye Elfenbein, this startup was created to address the environmental impact of industrial fishing. The company’s first product is sushi-grade salmon saku.

Kolbeck holds degrees from UC Berkeley, Yale School of Management and Sciences Po (formally the Paris Institute of Political Studies).