15 - 21 October, 2022
Weekly Roundup: Stay up to date with the most recent Agrifood Tech news, investments and partnerships
IPOs, M&As & Investments:
Cairo-based B2B eCommerce and distribution business MaxAB announced the close of a $40m pre-series B funding round to fuel its expansion across the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) region.
Canberra food tech startup Nourish Ingredients has raised US$28.6 million in Series A to produce synthetic fats that make fake meats taste better. Tune in to FoodTech Junkies for the full interview with James Petrie.
London-based Hoxton Farms has raised $22 million from investors to build a pilot plant to produce animal fat from stem cells, aiming to tap into the growing market for less carbon-intensive foods.
US startup Nitricity has closed a $20 million Series A round for its climate-friendly nitrogen production technology. Funds will go towards scaling up the business as the company readies its technology for the market.
Lithos, an agricultural carbon removal company, announced it has secured $6.29 million in capital to scale deployment of its enhanced rock weathering process for transforming farmland into carbon capture centers while increasing crop yields.
Synonym, a financing and development platform for biomanufacturing, has raised a pre-seed round of $6.3 million, led by Andreessen Horowitz, Giant Ventures, Blue Horizon, Siddhi Capital, FJ Labs and Global Founders Capital among others.
Wilkinson Baking Co., the creator of the world’s first fully-automated commercial bread-baking robot, has raised $3 million in seed funding. The funds primarily will be used to build and deploy additional BreadBots.
Cascadia Seaweed has received $4.3 million in funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to construct a 100 ha ocean farm and agrifeed processing facility in northern British Columbia.
GM Ventures invests in biotechnology company MycoWorks aiming to co-develop Fine Mycelium™ materials for potential use in a range of applications within the automotive design industry.
Nestlé is acquiring the Seattle's Best Coffee brand from Starbucks for an undisclosed amount, the company said in a statement. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.
Funds, Grants & Partnerships:
Change Foods has signed an agreement with KEZAD Group to design a dedicated commercial manufacturing plant to produce its animal-free dairy in Abu Dhabi, with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the UAE under the NextGen FDI initiative.
Traditional farm G H Dean & CoTwo and CEA’s Re-Gro have joined forces to reach Net Zero by using traditional methods supported with cutting-edge technology, including an onsite vertical farm powered by solar panels.
Better Nutritionals and DouxMatok announce a commercial partnership to offer Better Nutritionals' network of customers sugar-reduced gummies with the same great taste as standard gummies.
Israel and Bahrain signed a first-of-its-kind joint declaration for the promotion and expansion of cooperation between the State of Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain in the fields of agriculture, livestock and food security.
Five innovative start-up companies make up the inaugural class in the HudsonAlpha AgTech Investment Accelerator, a new initiative from the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and the global venture and accelerator firm gener8tor.
Cargill, hydrocolloids specialist Unitec Foods and sugar manufacturer Fuji Nihon Seito Corporation are joining forces to boost innovation and go-to-market for food ingredients solutions in Japan and Asia-Pacific region.
PepsiCo announced the continuation of its global agriculture accelerator, the Positive Agriculture Outcomes (PAO) Fund, by granting 14 business projects across 11 countries funding to address some of the most intractable challenges facing agriculture today.
News & Trends:
The global mycoprotein market is anticipated to reach nearly $1 billion by 2032, according to market research firm Future Market Insights (FMI).
Impossible Foods is currently working on developing plant-based filet mignon, and has already completed a number of successful prototypes.
Aquaculture specialist Atlantic Sea Farms announces the launch of new Sea-Veggie Burgers made with regeneratively-grown kelp. Available in two varieties, the burgers will debut this month in the US and online.
USDA and USAID released their Global Food Security Research Strategy, underscoring the U.S. government’s commitment to ending hunger and malnutrition and building medium to long-term sustainable resilient food systems.
Saudi Arabia announced its plan to localize 85 percent of its food industry by 2030.
Israel’s alt-packaging startup Melodea is expanding to the US and will operate a manufacturing plant in the US and start shipping within the next six months, boosting the production capacity of its products in US and South American markets.
The recent food price crisis has underlined the fragility of a global food system that already faces many challenges. Strengthening our food system is critical to meeting climate and biodiversity goals, and it will also improve livelihoods for 1 billion people.
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