This week, PepsiCo. and ADM made a major announcement that could boost regenerative agriculture practices in the US, while President Biden signed an executive order impacting cultivated meat. France’s Capagro launched a $200 million agrifoodtech fund, and animal-free cheese developments proliferated.
Foodtech funding
🇫🇷 Standing Ovation grabs €12 million ($12 million) Series A from PeakBridge & others. The startup makes animal-free casein, a critical protein for cheese and the cheese-making process. (TechCrunch)
🇫🇮 Onego Bio scoops €4.5 million ($4.5 million) from Business Finland for animal-free egg whites. The funding, coming on the heels of a €10 million ($10 million) raise, will accelerate product development. (Arctic Startup)
🇺🇸 PeakBridge leads $15 million raise for personalized nutrition startup InsideTracker. Series B funds will enable more R&D efforts, expand marketing, and support operations. (PR Newswire)
🇬🇧 Indie food marketplace DELLI raises £6.2 million ($7.2 million) from Balderton & HV Capital. Individuals and independent restaurants can sell food on DELLI through the “drop” model used by fashion brands. (UKTN)
🇭🇰 Hot-food vending machine startup Wada Bento snags $2.8 million pre-Series A round. Investors include Golden Resources Development Limited, Gravity Capital Partners and others. (TechNode Global)
🇺🇸 Biotech startup Prolific Machines emerges from stealth with $42 million in seed & Series A funds. It plans to drive down the cost of cultivated meat manufacturing via biotech and machine learning technologies. (AFN)
🇪🇸 Coffee startup GoodNews brews up €11 million ($10.9 million) for its coffee kiosk-meets-e-commerce concept. Desigual founder Thomas Meyer and Barlon Capital led the round, which will go towards European expansion. (Tech.eu)
🇨🇭 Cultivated Biosciences announces $1.3 million pre-seed round for its alt-dairy ingredients. FoodHack, Wingman Ventures, Big Idea Ventures, Blue Horizon and others participated in the round. (FoodHack Global)
🇫🇷 Nutropy secures €2 million ($2 million) to launch production of its animal-free cheese and milk products. Beast, Big Idea Ventures and Trellis Road led the financing. (Protein Report)
🇳🇴 Food waste software startup TotalCtrl receives investment from Newday. Funds will go towards accelerating company growth nationally and internationally. (Silicon Canals)
🇺🇸 Next Level Burger lands $20 million. The plant-based foods QSR will put the funding towards its goal of opening 1000 units across the US. (Nation’s Restaurant News)
🇩🇪 Plant-based egg startup Neggst bags €5 million ($5 million) for whole vegan eggs. Green Generation Fund led the seed round. (PitchBook)
Agtech funding
🇺🇸 Gotham Greens lands $310 million in Series E funding to expand its greenhouse network around the US. BMO Impact Investment Fund and Ares Management led the round. (AFN)
🇦🇺 Lleaf raises $3.5 million to bring light-emitting plastics to indoor agriculture. Danish investment firms ALFA Ventures and 2 Degrees led the bridge round. (Startup Daily)
🇮🇳 Cold chain startup New Leaf Dynamic Technologies lands $900,000 in pre-Series A funding. Former Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s Good Ventures fund led the round. (VC Circle)
🇺🇸 Aqua-Yield closes $23 million Series A round for nanotechnology products that boost agricultural inputs. Larry H. Miller Company led the round, joined by Penny Newman Grain Company and JH Partners. (AFN)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇺🇸 PepsiCo. & ADM partner on regenerative agriculture goals. The two companies are set to implement “climate-smart” agricultural practices on 2 million acres of US farmland by 2030. (Bloomberg)
🇺🇸 Wicked Kitchen acquires plant-based seafood brand Good Catch. The all-stock deal does not include Good Catch’s UK brand, which will remain part of Gathered Foods. (Food Dive)
🇨🇦 Walmart Canada & software company Focal Systems bringing AI to stores across the country. The system helps the mega-retailer detect low-stock or out-of-stock products in real time. (Progressive Grocer)
🇬🇧 LettUs Grow and fruit farmers Bardsley England partner to grow trees via indoor farming. The companies will trial apple tree whip propagation using the former’s aeroponic growing technology. (iGrow News)
Funds, grants & accelerators
🇺🇸 PowerPlant Partners unveils $330 million fund for growth-stage startups. The PPV Fund III will invest between $15 million and $40 million into health and sustainable food brands. (Vegconomist)
🇺🇸 United States Department of Agriculture awards $2.8 billion in cost-share grants for climate-smart ag. Over the next five years, 70 projects will provide technical and financial assistance to farmers implementing practices that reduce US ag’s carbon footprint. (Successful Farming)
🇲🇹 🇨🇭 PeakBridge VC & Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity complete first close of PeakBridge Growth II. The fund has made two investments in alternative protein technologies: Netherlands-based Rival Foods and France’s Standing Ovation. (AFN)
🇫🇷 Capagro launches the €200 million ($200 million) Capagro Agri-Food Innovation Fund II to support sustainable ag and health food startups. The fund’s first investment is €10 million ($10 million) in personalized nutrition startup Cuure. (Silicon Canals)
Other news
🇺🇸 In a win for cultivated meat, President Biden signs executive order to boost biotech. The new initiative aims to make the US a leader in biotechnology, including “cultivating alternative food sources.” (VegNews)
🇳🇱 The Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit faces protests, accusations of greenwashing. Protestors took issue with some of the event’s key sponsors including Nestle and Syngenta. (AFN)
🇺🇸 Plenty to invest $300 million into the “largest indoor vertical farming campus in the world.” Several large-scale vertical farms would produce 20 million-plus pounds of strawberries, leafy greens, tomatoes and other crops per year. (Food Dive)
🇨🇭 Switzerland may ban factory farming. The country will vote next week on an initiative that calls for the dignity of farm animals to be protected constitutionally. (Vegconomist)
