29 May - 3 June, 2022
Stay up to date with the most recent news, investments and partnerships regarding the agrifood tech industry and sustainability.
IPOs, M&As & Investments:
Online ag marketplace iFarmer, which links Bangladeshi smallholders and their suppliers with agronomic, logistical, and financial services, has raised $2.1 million in funding. IDLC Venture Capital Fund, the VC arm of Bangladeshi non-banking financial institution IDLC Finance, led the pre-Series A round.
Circular sharing platform Peerby.com, a startup that enables neighbors to borrow and lend household items, has just raised €2.3 million in a funding round led by Toronto-based tech and impact fund Loyal.
Carbon calculation startup Plant FWD has closed a $10 million Series A, co-led by Acre Venture Partners and Congruent Ventures as well as existing investors BBG Ventures, Precursor, Concrete Rose, and January Ventures among others.
Arla Foods has unveiled its “biggest investment to date,” a 55-hectare production plant in Germany with the capacity to supply specialized long-life dairy products to 70 countries.
Firmenich and DSM have revealed plans to merge the two companies in a move that they believe will create an ‘unparalleled’ leader in nutrition, beauty and wellbeing.
Australian food tech startup Eden Brew has secured $5 million as part of a continuing funding raise. The investment was made by its existing backer Main Sequence, with Mars’ Digitalis Ventures participating for the first time.
US ag automation startup FarmWise Labs, which builds weeding robot Titan, has raised $45 million in Series B funding, it announced today.
UK-based biomaterials startup Modern Synthesis has raised $4.1 million in seed funding to support its microbial textile platform that aims to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
FoodHack, the fast-growing food-tech community and newsletter, has raised $1m to develop and publicly launch HackVentures, its investment platform.
News & Trends:
Future Farm, known as Fazenda Futuro in its home country, has confirmed it has welcomed fellow Brazilian singer sensation Anitta onboard as a partner.
Chilean unicorn NotCo has made its meat alternative debut in Canada. The company’s NotBurger release was timed to coincide with National Burger Day on May 28. The launch comes after a successful rollout of the company’s NotMilk last year.
Tetra Pak and cell-free biomanufacturing processes developer EnginZyme partnered up to transform acid whey, a by-product from the manufacture of dairy foods like greek yogurt or cream cheese, into valuable ingredients.
Babylon Micro-Farms, Inc., a leading manufacturer of automated indoor vertical farms, has launched its all-new Micro-Farm, the Galleri.
Dutch manufacturer Duplaco has developed a new variety of golden-coloured chlorella, making it possible to add nutrients to plant-based foods without the green colour associated with the regular variety.
EU leaders will consider all available ways to circumvent the food export blockade imposed by Russia on Ukraine’s ports, including a naval mission to escort cargo ships, but will not concede to Russia’s demands to lift sanctions, sources told EURACTIV.
A new study, "The Global Potential for Increased Storage of Carbon on Land," published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provides a series of geospatial maps that improve our understanding of the global gap between current and potential carbon storage on land, and offers a framework for action to realize the full potential of land-based carbon storage as a natural climate solution.