Dec 31st - January 7th 2022
Stay up to date with the latest news, investments and trends regarding the Agrifood Tech sector and Sustainability.
Investments
Israeli flexible compostable packaging firm TIPA Corp raised a $70 million Series C round led by Millenium Food-Tech and Meitav Dash Investments. The company has raised $130 million in total to date, including the latest investment.
Remilk, an Israel-based company that makes animal-free dairy proteins by precision fermentation, raised $120 million in a Series B round, expanding its financial resources more than 10-fold. The round was led by Hanaco Ventures.
Buenos Aires food tech startup Kernel Mycofoods has announced an ambitious 2022 roadmap for its fungi-based meat alternative following a successful $15 million funding round, led by Union Group Ventures.
Wellness Innovations BV has announced a successful crowdfunding round. The 1.2 million cash injection came via the DuurzaamInvesteren investment platform. Funds will be used to continue the company’s algae oil product portfolio expansion.
Zepto, an instant grocery delivery startup founded by two teenagers, has raised $100 million in a funding round led by Y Combinator, taking its valuation to $570 million within five months of starting services in India’s red-hot quick commerce segment.
Still and sparkling water brand Liquid Death raised $75 million in Series C funding led by the startup studio Science, the company that helped launch the brand, according to TechCrunch.
Fresh food startup Living Food has raised $7.5 million led by Amasia, a US-based venture capital firm which focuses on backing companies in the climate change and sustainability space.
Food start-up Sessions, which is chaired by the leisure industry veteran Graham Turner, announced this week that it has raised about £7.5m ($10m) to expand its roster of chefs and food venues.
South Korean startup DaNAgreen has bagged ₩8 billion (approx. US$6.7 million). Lotte Ventures, Timewise Investment and Pathfinder H all participated in the Series A investment round. Closure brings total funding to ₩10 billion within four years.
South Africa-based health tech startup HealthLeap, raised $1.1 million pre-seed round led by deep tech investor Fifty Years to fight malnutrition.
Amsterdam’s Mr. & Mrs. Watson has announced the closure of a successful seed funding round. €700,000 was raised to support new product development, international brand marketing and facility improvements. The company is known for its fermented cashew-based cheeses and Amsterdam-based restaurant.
New year new acquisitions! Barcelona-based unicorn Glovo has begun 2022 with a massive change in its shareholding, announcing on New Year’s Eve an acquisition agreement with Berlin’s Delivery Hero that values the startup at €2.3 billion.
Benson Hill, Inc. announced the acquisition of ZFS Creston, LLC, an established food grade white flake and soy flour manufacturing operation for approximately $102 million, primarily financed through a new debt facility.
Online vegan marketplace Vejii has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire leading business-to-business wholesale platform VEDGEco.
Oterra has made its first U.S. acquisition with the purchase of Food Ingredient Solutions, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of natural and synthetic colors and antioxidants.
M&A activity in the food and beverage space remained robust during 2021. Emerging CPG brands capitalizing on large traditional categories, especially chocolate confectionery, snacks, and beverage, with a health and wellness focus were snapped up by consumer giants in historic deal values.
It’s been another fascinating year for AgTech investing. Last year shattered records for investments in AgTech startups. 632 startups globally raised $12.23B. This represents 137% growth in investment dollars in the space from last year, and 410% percent growth from five years ago in 2017.
News & Trends
FoodIngredientsFirst takes a deep dive into the plant-based trends for the next 12 months.Experts from CP Kelco, ADM, Almond Board of California, Puratos, Kalsec and GNT discuss the plant-based trends shaping 2022.
Chile’s NotCo has perfectly mimicked the taste of real chicken in a vegan format. The pea protein-based development will be used to create a range of products.
Goodside Foods is debuting shelf-stable meatless crumbles made from plant protein powered by fermentation. Powered by MycoTechnology’s mushroom fermentation platform, Goodside Foods contain a pea and rice protein blend fermented by shitake mushroom roots or mycelia.
Just days before the world rang in the New Year, Israeli-based food tech firm SavorEat unveiled its 3D printing “robot chef” – which can whip up burgers and steaks in just six minutes – at popular Israeli food chain BBB in Herzliya.
Meati co-founders Tyler Huggins and Justin Whiteley, discovered a strain of Mycelium that is the key ingredient in an innovative new alt-meat that bears a strong resemblance to animal protein.
CULT Food Science Corp said its portfolio company CELL AG TECH has achieved meaningful scientific and product development milestones over the last year in its pursuit to develop premium, cell-based seafood products such as snapper, cod, and halibut.
The race for advanced information on the impact of the gut biome on human health gains momentum as Unilever partners with specialist Holobiome, securing next level access to the “microbiome vault.
Origin Agritech, announced that it has signed a collaborative agreement with BaoDao, a Chinese feed producer with 500 million RMB in annual sales.
Scientists published a paper that takes a major step toward solving the problem of how to study and alter genomes of microbes living in complicated real-world environments, such as the gut microbiome or soil.
The global food industry is entering a period of radical transformation, which S2G Ventures likens to the decades-long $4 trillion global energy transition that ushered in disruptive clean technology innovation and sustainable solutions.
Albert Heijn details nutritional value of products through Nutri-Score labeling. The Nutri-Score of 6,000 own brand products are an effort to help customers make healthier food choices.
FoodNavigator speaks to Regrained co-founder and CEO Dan Kurzrock about the enormous economic potential that could be unlocked by the fight against food waste.
The White House announced Monday it will dedicate $1 billion to increase competition among meat processors, intending to curb soaring industry prices
Sustainability has become a requisite in the vineyards, but because the soil itself is being altered by climate change, there is a new focus on that aspect of viticulture.
Starting January 1st, grocery store labels will be revamped for food that has been genetically modified. The goal was to get rid of the mosaic of various food and ingredient labels that had been scientifically modified, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
January is the perfect time to try something new. The non-profit Veganuary believes that it's an especially good time to try out a new diet -- a vegan one, to be exact.
For Stephanie Dorsey, founding partner at US investment firm E²JDJ, agriculture is undergoing “accelerated evolution” out of the industrial age and squarely into a digital and biological one.