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- FoodTech Weekly #130 By Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #130 By Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
January 13, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #130
Hi there,
Just a small correction, before we get down to business: Last week, I wrote about Moolec Science which began trading on Nasdaq. I called the company Argentinian; Moolec is however U.K.-based.
This week's rundown:
Project Eaden adds new funding, brings Seed round to €10M
Scientists develop drought-resistant durum wheat
Remilk 'delays' plans to build large precision fermentation factory in Denmark
Let's go!
Conversations
Recently, I spoke with Thomas Farrugia, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Beta Bugs, and based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Thomas is a chemist by training. Long story short, he realized that 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked to the production of animal feed. He knew insect protein from e.g. the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) could help solve this, but also that this novel ingredient was too expensive -- e.g. 5x more expensive than soy (which is fed to salmon and monogastrics, like pigs and chicken). He realized that better genetics, through selective breeding, could help drive down the price of insects used as animal feed. So five years ago, Beta Bugs was born. The company, which now has 14 employees, develops and distributes high-performance breeds of Black Soldier Fly for the insect farming industry: Our larvae grow larger, faster, have better survival rates, and the flies lay more eggs, than unselected insects', Thomas says and continues: 'Genetics is tricky and doing it properly requires a dedicated operation. SME producers will definitely want to outsource this work, and buy their genetics, in the form of eggs from us. 1 gram of eggs will yield 5 kgs of wet weight larvae, meaning that SME producers and large-scale operators will require anything between 50g to 5kg of eggs on a regular basis. We think that as our sector scales, BSF eggs alone will be a £350M market per year by 2030.' Beta Bugs runs a breeding program and a dedicated egg production site (The Multiplier), and already sells to customers in the U.K. and abroad. The company is currently raising a £1M round. Thomas can be contacted via LinkedIn and email ([email protected]).
Beta Bugs. Bottom right: Thomas Farrugia.
Noteworthy
Dutch startup Odd.Bot, which was founded in 2019 and which develops ag robots (like this one, 30 sec video), has received a €2.6M investment from the EIC Accelerator. The new funding will be used to bring the 'Weed Whacko' robot to market, which can remove weeds without the use of chemicals. Last year, some 797 AgTech startups globally raised about $10.6B in funding. There were also 33 AgTech exits, basically the same as in 2021.
Speaking about cool robots, check out Nala Robotics new automatic robot dishwasher, Spotless (3 min video). It uses camera systems and machine learning to take care of the entire process, from scrubbing to storage, of everything from cookware and cutlery to dishware and glassware. I need this for my home (h/t: OttOmate).
Singapore biotech/seaweed aquaculture startup Seadling, which was founded in 2018, has reeled in a $500K investment from CI Ventures as part of a $1M round. Seadling produces a fermented seaweed additive for pet food, that enhances gut microbiome and digestive health. The company sources from Malaysia, where it offers farmers high prices for the seaweed. Seadling does selective breeding which improves the seaweed strains by increasing nutritional density, boosting growth rates, and increasing resilience against e.g. warming water.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has spun out Mineral, an agtech company it has been incubating in stealth at Google X since 2017. Mineral gathers data through autonomous on-farm vehicles, satellite images, farm equipment, and public databases, and has already surveyed and analyzed 10% of the world's farmland. The company hopes its solutions will help 'better predict crop yields, increase production, target pests and weeds, reduce waste, minimize chemical and water use, and reduce the impact of agriculture on the planet.'
Berlin-based alternative protein startup Project Eaden has extended its Seed round to €10M. Investors include e.g. Creandum, FoodLabs, Shio Capital, Trellis Road, and angels. Project Eaden produces realistic plant-based meat, based on an innovative fiber technology. Here's another picture of the steak up close.
Image: Project Eaden
Scientists and farmers have developed a new drought-tolerant variety of durum called Jabal, which means 'mountain' in Arabic. Durum wheat is used to make e.g. pasta, pita, couscous, bulgur, and baklava.
U.K. alcohol-free beer brand Lucky Saint has landed a £10m investment led by Beringea and JamJar. The market for non-alcoholic beer is expected to grow by over 60% in the next 10 years.
Last year, Israeli precision fermentation company Remilk (which has raised at least $130M) announced it would build the world's largest animal-free dairy factory in Denmark. Now, those plans have been 'delayed' (article in Danish), and the Danish employees have been laid off. Recently, New Age Eats decided to walk away from their production facility in California which was 90% completed, and Oatly sold most of their production facilities in Utah and Texas. It turns out that building and running production facilities is both costly and complex.
11 agritech startups to watch, according to VCs FoodLabs, Rockstart, Astanor, and ETF Partners.
Israeli startup Vgarden has launched a vegan tinned tuna, claiming that its product offers the same appearance, texture, aroma, and flavor as animal-based tuna. Side note: Real, live tuna is a pretty fascinating creature; Atlantic bluefin tuna are up to 4m (13 ft) long, can weigh up to 600 kgs (1,300 lbs), can swim up to 70 km/h (43 mph), are warm-blooded (unlike most fish) and can live up to 40 years. By some estimates, 90% of tuna have already disappeared from the ocean.
Image: Vgarden/Hagit Goren
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
New School Foods (Canada) is hiring a Director of Engineering, a Director, R&D and a Food Materials Scientist... GFI Europe (Europe/remote) is recruiting a Managing Director... InnerPlant (U.S.) is looking for a Head of Platform... Synthesis Capital (U.K.) has an open position for a Senior Scientist.
Eatable Adventures has put together a useful list of key global FoodTech events in 2023.
The Norrsken Impact Accelerator 2023 is now open for applications.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
A herd of 20+ fugitive cows in Quebec, Canada, that had been on the run since July 2022, have now been found and brought home. In October, a group of eight Saint-Tite cowboys failed to capture and return the cows.
Onions have become so expensive in the Philippines (about 3x the cost of chicken) due to super typhoons damaging the crops, that people are now smuggling onions into the country.
Self-driving stroller
There are 369,000 known species of plants on Earth. Of those 2,500 are domesticated by humans (to produce e.g. food, medicine, fiber, or to beautify homes and gardens), and about 170 crops are grown globally on a commercial scale. Only three crops -- rice, corn, and wheat -- provide 40-60% of the calories for the world's population.
I guess this is the supermarket aisle where you can find the p*rnflakes:
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Younger - Kygo Remix by Seinabo Sey and Kygo. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter. And here's the Appetizer which I co-host. Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.