10-16 December , 2022
Weekly Roundup: Stay up to date with the most recent Agrifood Tech news, investments and partnerships
IPOs, M&As & Investments:
NotCo announced it has closed $70M in new funding as a Series D1. The new capital will catapult the company’s new B2B Unit and exponentially accelerate the transformation of the plant-based industry.
Quebec-based Winter Farm has raised $46 million and will use this funding to build one of the world's most important vertical farms dedicated to strawberry production.
Israel-based Equinom has raised $35 million, bringing its total funding to over $71 million.
The company will use this new capital to accelerate the commercialization of its ingredients, fund investment, fresh talent and R&D into ongoing breeding programs
GDM Holdings S.A will provide Traitology initial funding of $25 million over the next three years to advance genomic and epigenomic traits in key row crops, starting with soybeans.
London-based biodiversity startup Basecamp Research has raised $20 million in venture capital to search for proteins in nature that could benefit companies in industries such as healthcare, nutrition and cosmetics.
Seville-based CoverManager has just raised €17 million in new capital as it plans international expansion. The Spanish startup is on a mission to improve how restaurants operate and is growing fast as the industry digitizes.
Carbon removal technology company Eion announced the close of a $12+ million Series A funding round co-led by AgFunder and Ridgeline. The capital will be used to continue building its partnerships, expand availability of its product and attract high-impact talent.
Arkea Bio announced the close of a $12 million Seed Series financing round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV). These funds, and the partnership with BEV, will help to rapidly accelerate and position ArkeaBio as a leader in the effort to decarbonize the agricultural sector.
German startup Circus has just raised €11 million in a new fundraising round. The team are aiming to tackle surmounting challenges in the food delivery space, making it more sustainable, more convenient and more affordable.
India’s agtech startup Bharat Krushi Seva (BKS) has raised a $11.5 million seed funding round. The funds will be used to improve technology and expand into new geographies.
Italian-based biodiversity company 3Bee raised a €5 million series A funding round. The fresh funds will help strengthen their impact and technology data mapping infrastructure, international HR and BD, awareness-raising programs, and ESG service development verticals.
CEA startup Nutrifresh has raised $5 million in pre-series seed funding. The capital will be used to scale up farm operations, implement complete traceability and transparency of produce, marketing and creation of an integrated farm-tech platform.
Insolight secured over 5 million. The funds are instrumental to deploy Insolight’s first large-scale insolagrin installations (hectare size/megawatts scale), serving first berry growers in Switzerland and France.
Mad Capital has closed a $4 million seed round for its financing platform for farmers transitioning to regenerative agriculture. Mad Capital will use the funding to build up its team as it prepares for expansion in the coming year.
Indonesia-based agri-tech startup Eratani has announced an oversubscribed seed funding round of $3.8 million. The fresh funds will be utilized to continue perfecting farming management programs, strengthening core operations, and expanding to new areas.
Edinburgh-based foodtech startup Green Bioactives has raised £2.6 million in a seed round. The financing will enable the company to grow its management, production and research team capabilities and scale.
Toast Ale, the brewery that recycles waste bread into beer, has secured £2m from high-profile investors to help scale its sustainability projects and environmental impact.
Egypt’s hospitality procurement platform startup Suplyd has raised $1.6 million pre-seed funding to help scale the technology, expand within and beyond Cairo, and explore other growth opportunities in the MENA region.
Mumbai-based food-saving app SaveEat has raised $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round. The fresh capital will be deployed by the company for boosting its technology as well as expanding team and marketing operations.
Malaysian-based nutrition company Wellous has entered a $270 million SPAC merger agreement Kairous Acquisition Corp Ltd. Following the completion of this deal, Wellous will be publicly listed on Nasdaq.
Funds, Grants & Partnerships:
The South Korean government is launching a $76.85 million worth fund to nurture 30 food tech unicorn startups by 2027.
Precision fermentation startup Oobli is launching their first-ever sweet protein- sweetened-powered-chocolate barsbrought to market.
Foodtech platform C3 (Creating Culinary Communities) announced the launch of Frankly by Snap-O-Razzo, a joint venture with Snap-O-Razzo.
The UK Government announced a substantial £12.5 million in funding for projects focused on cutting-edge agriculture and horticulture innovation.
The EU’s flagship research and innovation program, Horizon Europe, has announced €25 million in funding for three projects working on cultivated and fermented proteins.
Moy Park, the poultry processor, together with a consortium of UK manufacturers from other sectors, has secured £4m in match funding to progress research into sustainable smart factory projects.
Ventures Platform, the pan-African VC firm championing the next generation of African technology entrepreneurs, has announced the final close of its early-stage and intercontinental fund, at $46 Million.
Grow Asia – a nonprofit established by the World Economic Forum and the ASEAN Secretariat has launched a $6.6m multi-donor impact fund to drive more responsible investments in Asia’s food and forestry sector
BASF and StePac are partnering to develop environmentally sustainable packaging to extend the shelf life of fresh produce.
Canadian startup Oatbox, which specializes in products made from oats, announces it closed a C$7.1M financing round to finalize the construction of its oat milk base manufacturing facility.
News & Trends:
Ÿnsect announced its intent to expand insect production sites within the United States. As part of this expansion, Ÿnsect will explore potential synergies with Ardent Mills, the premier flour milling and ingredient company.
Gen Alpha and artificial intelligence (AI) will be major shapers of the food and beverage industry’s future, according to Datassential. The market research company named both as important trends in 2023.
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), research suggests that the European cultivated meat market (excluding the UK) will be worth over $818 million by 2026.
SciFi Foods has conducted the world’s first Life Cycle Analysis on cultivated beef and the findings show significant benefits for the planet.
Cultivated meat company Believer Meats is making an initial investment of more than $123 million to establish its first commercial-scale food manufacturing facility in Wilson.
Researchers from Singapore and China have found a way to use food waste for culturing meat, reducing production costs and helping to make cultured meat a viable option for feeding the world's population.
The dream in the desert: Satellite images show Saudi Arabia's 75-mile long mega city, The Line taking shape - at a cost of $500BN.