Vow, a start-up that manufactures meat in a lab and has raised over $80 million from backers such as Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg Capital and industry superannuation fund Hostplus, will lay off more than 20 per cent of its workers.

Staff were told about the redundancies on Friday in a message from co-founder and chief executive George Peppou, who said the company was close to finalising a new funding round that will help it navigate the regulatory approvals process and getting its novel cultured meats into restaurants and retailers.