Stay up to date with the most recent news, investments and partnerships regarding the agrifood tech industry and sustainability.
IPOs, M&As & Investments:
Korean AgriTech startup N.Thing, has raised $21 million in series B fundraising that is up from $5 million in previous series that is secured $26 million in total. This has been run as an additional round of series B funding, led by InterVest and Kiwoom Investment.
Rural insurtech startup GramCover on Monday said it has raised $7 million as part of its Series A fundraise co-led by Siana Capital and Inflexor Ventures.
Galventa, the St. Gallen-based life science startup behind the first nutraceutical supplement to control the wake-up process, has secured a €696K seed investment led by the Turkish pharma firm Gen Ilac.
Kingdom Supercultures, a bio-design company that specializes in developing natural microbial cultures – which it calls "Supercultures" – today announced a $25 million Series A funding round led by Shine Capital.
European Food Tech VC firm Five Seasons Ventures has announced the final closing of a €180 million second fund. Having already backed promising European plant-based businesses, the Five Seasons new Fund II will focus on fast-growing consumer-focused food startups with a quantifiable environmental or social impact.
A market report by Global Market Insights has projected a 17% CAGR for the alt-protein market between 2021 and 2027. By the end of this growth period, it is predicted that the market will be worth $155 billion.
Elemental has raised £1.37 million, using the investment portfolio platform, Crowdcube. This is the second successful fundraising campaign for Elemental, following an initial £1.5 million raised in 2019, which the business used to develop the technology and start the build of a fertiliser demonstration plant at its headquarters in Devon.
Online meat and seafood selling brand Licious has now become India’s first poultry-based startup to enter the much-coveted unicorn club. The farm to folk business model based startup, founded by Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta about six years ago in Bengaluru, has now entered the unicorn club after receiving funding of around Rs. 388 crore ($52 million) in a round led by IIFL Asset Management Ltd.'s private equity fund.
A newly launched company called Do Good Foods announced today it has raised $169M. The startup has developed a closed-loop system to convert produce and meats that cannot be sold in grocery stores or used by food banks into nutrient-dense animal feed.
News & Trends:
Solar energy has become a new cash crop for farmers when the price is right
With the drop of Satisfy’s American Desert line, the Parisian running brand introduces a sustainable bio-based fabric for post-run recovery that’s plucked from the ocean. The new batch of Cosmetic Tees — classic tees, muscle tees, and long-sleeved shirts — feature seaweed-derived SeaCell, a fibre with health and environmental advantages.
In a new study published in the journal Communications, Earth & Environment, University of Montana researchers and colleagues explore how climate change could challenge efforts to protect biodiversity within the network of protected areas around the globe.
A prominent climate group accused the McDonald's corporation of another greenwashing stunt on Monday after the burger giant announced it would cut global greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050.
The food and beverage giant's Pepviz platform uses analytics, data science and other tools to ensure a store is carrying the right product mix and optimizing shelf space.
5-hour Energy Shot’s parent company Living Essentials is launching a full-size carbonated energy drink this month. The 16-ounce beverage will come in three flavours: Berry, Grape and Watermelon, which the company said are the most popular flavours of its energy shot.
The Pished Fish is releasing a Christmas selection box of booze-infused salmon for the festive season.
The worlds first vegan prawn-crackers is rolling out in the UK, made by Native Snacks.
Sweegen will expand its high-intensity sweeteners portfolio early next year with the addition of brazzein, an ultra-sweet tasting protein found in small quantities in the fruit of a West African plant called oubli, that can be produced on a commercial scale via microbial fermentation.
Estonian start-up Meet Future is making alt chicken and seafood whole-cuts with short ingredient lists. Founder Triin Remmelgas tells FoodNavigator how its mycoprotein-based products meet demand for ‘less processed’ and ‘healthier’ products.
The bidding war for British grocery chain Morrisons has closed with private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) winning with its £7 billion (US$9.5 billion) offer.
Eatable Adventures’ newly launched €50 million (US$58 million) fund, Eatable Evolution Fund FCR I, is hailed as the largest fund of its kind in Spain and one of the top three most active in Europe.
Mars is ramping up its efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its entire value chain by 2050, aligning with the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 °C.
Givaudan has unveiled its latest research on “mindful drinking,” offering manufacturers critical insights into what consumers are looking for in low- and no-alcohol drinks and enabling them to create more appealing experiences.
Tetra Pak and Poka are pleased to announce the launch of a new strategic collaboration that brings together the expertise, technology, and best practices of Tetra Pak, a leader in the food & beverage packaging industry, with the power of Poka, the most comprehensive connected factory worker platform.
A new industry report has found there's opportunities for New Zealand's farmers to take advantage of the global regenerative agriculture trend, but there isn't a clear definition and understanding of what the practice is.
With plant-based demand increasing at an exponential rate, but global production struggling to keep pace, vegconomist decided to have a chat with Dave Reynolds of the Protein Solutions and Ingredients Division of Bühler, Inc.
Clara Foods, one of the early pioneers building nature-equivalent proteins using precision fermentation technology, announced Tuesday it is rebranding to the EVERY Company and is launching its first animal-free egg product called ClearEgg, an egg protein product targeted at the protein beverage market.
Monday, ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United announced they had acquired Zuul, a ghost kitchen technology and consulting services company, for an undisclosed sum.
For the first time in history, plant-based foods have been given priority in an agricultural agreement, with a large majority of Danish political parties behind it. The Danish Plant-Based Foods Association announces that an action plan must now be created to promote plant-based foods in Denmark.
Californian food tech MeliBio has just unveiled its flagship product, the world’s first-ever real honey made without bees. After debuting the product at a private tasting event in San Francisco, MeliBio is now ready to take orders from foodservice businesses and ship out its bee-free honey by the end of the year.
Good Catch, the plant-based seafood brand by US startup Gathered Foods, is launching in Singapore. From this month, restaurants across the island will be serving dishes featuring the food tech’s legume-based seafood substitutes. It marks the startup’s first entry into the Asia market, where demand for seafood is projected to account for the majority of consumption growth in the years ahead.
Launched in partnership with Portland, Oregon-based Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB), Patagonia’s new line of beer is made with organically grown ingredients and Kernza, a perennial wheat grain grown using regenerative agriculture practices—which helps to restore soil biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
The global agrifood sector is full of examples of underutilized resources. Food grown and wasted. Lost value from “waste products.” Undiscovered foods growing right in front of us. A new cohort of women entrepreneurs in Africa are identifying untapped foods and resources as a way to boost farmer incomes, nourish the continent, and cultivate healthy livelihoods.
Woolworths Group is helping new Australian plastic recycling startup Samsara bring the potential of infinite recycling to life, and to its supermarkets, with plans to trial the new technology in its own packaging over the next two years.
Save Foods, an Israeli-based agrifood tech company focused on developing and selling eco-friendly products specifically designed to extend the shelf life and ensure the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables, has started a large commercial treatment program.
Cell-based technology company TurtleTree Labs has announced the opening of its new R&D facility located in West Sacramento, California. TurtleTree uses innovative cell-based technologies to create sustainable food and dairy. The company created a proprietary technology that uses mammalian cells to produce milk, with no animals needed.
Hormel's venture arm, 199 Ventures and fermented meat analog maker The Better Meat Co. entered into a partnership this week. The two companies will work together to create new products using Better Meat's Rhiza mycelium-based meat analog.
Coffee chain Starbucks and delivery app Deliveroo also joined forces. Starbucks fans across the UK can now order coffees alongside sandwiches and other menu items from more than 400 of the chain’s stores on the Deliveroo app.
Karma Culture LLC is launching Karma CBD Water. The product, created in partnership with cannabis and hemp supplier Canopy Growth Corp, will be distributed by Constellation Brands. The latter acquired a 9.9% minority stake in Canopy Growth in 2017 and has planned to launch cannabis-infused drinks for several years.
Food Delivery giant Meituan was fined $534 million for violating China's anti-monopoly regulations. The company was accused of forcing merchants to do business exclusively on its platform by asking for deposits and charging different rates. The fine, levied by the State Administration for Market Regulation, equates to 3% of the company’s domestic revenue for 2020.
Burger King will become the first fast-food chain to test Impossible Foods’ meatless nuggets. The test will involve several markets and comes at a time when traditional chicken meat has become more expensive and harder to find.