World Economic Forum names Modern Meadow as Technology Pioneer Biotech firm headquartered in Nutley

Owen Proctor | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Medical school ribbon cutting in Nutley Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine ribbon cutting ceremony in Nutley on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

The World Economic Forum has named Modern Meadow as a “Technology Pioneer,” as the company, headquartered in Nutley, harnesses design, biology and material science to produce the world’s first bio-leather product.

Modern Meadow moved its headquarters from Brooklyn to Nutley in August 2017, joining like-minded businesses at ON3, the former Hoffmann-La Roche campus.

Prism Capital Partners, based in Bloomfield, is repurposing the 116-acre site, which is located in Clifton and Nutley.

The Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine at Seton Hall University recently opened as ON3’s anchor.

“Being acknowledged by the WEF as a pioneer is a confirmation that our technology is at the forefront of innovation that will transform the future of materials production,” Modern Meadow CEO Andras Forgacs stated in a release.

“Our biofabricated materials brand, Zoa, is just the start of a new material era, the age of bio-fabrication, where we will no longer have to compromise between quality and sustainability in our products,” he added.

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Following Thursday’s announcement, Forgacs will participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions. This meeting, also dubbed “Summer Davos,” will be held in Tianjin, China, from Sept. 18 to 20.

Many of the 61 pioneers will also attend the Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019, and continue to contribute to forum initiatives for the next two years.

“We welcome Modern Meadow in this diverse group of technology pioneers,” Fulvia Montresor, head of Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum, stated Thursday.

“Modern Meadow and its fellow pioneers are front and center in shaping the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution, and we believe they will be transforming society and industry in a positive way in the years to come,” stated Montresor.

"Technology Pioneers" are early-stage companies around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and are poised to have a significant impact on business and society, according to WEF.

This year’s cohort is the most diverse, both geographically and in terms of gender. Twenty-five percent are female-led, and 54 percent come from outside the United States and Silicon Valley, with each continent represented except Antarctica.

In addition to biotechnology, the pioneer focuses include artificial intelligence, big data and internet of things (IoT), blockchain, autonomous vehicles, cybersecurity, vertical farming and other agricultural advances, decentralized microgrids, and robotics.

2019 launch

By offering Grow NJ tax credits up to $32 million, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority helped sway Modern Meadow to bring a laboratory and pilot manufacturing site to ON3, the company announced last summer.

The firm is sharing Building 102 at 340 Kingsland St. with other tenants.

In its 72,900-square-foot Nutley headquarters, Modern Meadow is conducting or planning business, laboratory and demonstration-scale manufacturing operations, with additional support from its New Lab applied research and design studio in Brooklyn, the company told NorthJersey.com.

As Modern Meadow scales up its fermentation and collagen production, it will be working with Evonik, a leader in microbial fermentation, to produce its materials at commercial-scale utilizing Evonik's infrastructure around the world, the company said.

Over time, Modern Meadow's Nutley operations will scale up, as well as its employment numbers, according to company officials.

The firm has 75 workers at ON3, and estimates that it will employ 200 people by 2020.

Modern Meadow is preparing to launch its initial product in 2019.

Email: proctor@northjersey.com