DENVER — The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) has granted $250,000 to Bond Pet Foods, Inc., a Boulder-based biotechnology startup creating pet food and treat products with meatless, lab-cultured proteins, as part of its Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA) Grant Program.

“The Advanced Industries grants expand Colorado’s vital innovation ecosystem that supports our economic growth,” said Katie Woslager, senior manager of advanced industries at Colorado OEDIT. “These innovative companies create jobs and leverage additional investment in Colorado, and are even more important as the nation focuses on economic recovery.”

Bond Pet Food was founded in 2017 and has since developed its first product: a dog treat bar formulated with lab-cultured novel dry yeast protein. The startup hopes to debut its first animal-free, complete-and-balanced pet food products in 2023, having recently developed its first successful fermented prototype of its cultured chicken protein.

The Colorado OEDIT distributed $7.7 million in grants to 37 startups in the Colorado area to support the state’s advanced industries, of which Bond Pet Foods was one. These grants were awarded to early stage companies “commercializing innovative technologies to create viable products that meet a market need and can be created or manufactured in Colorado and exported globally,” Colorado OEDIT stated.

One hundred applications were received for this grant cycle, which were reviewed by expert committees of business, technical and financial specialists, as well as industry-specific professionals. Proof-of-concept and early stage capital grants were approved for 37 businesses on Nov. 19.

The grant programs were created in 2013 to stimulate sustainable growth and innovation, accelerate commercialization, and support competitive infrastructure among Colorado’s advanced industries. They include a Proof-of Concept program, an Early-Stage Capital and Retention program, and a Collaborative Infrastructure program. To date, the Colorado OEDIT has issued $86.5 million in these grants.

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