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FoodTech Weekly #131 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
January 20, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #131
Hi there,
First of all, congrats to Ady Beitler of Nilus who was just named Social Innovator of the Year 2023 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at the World Economic Forum. I had the pleasure to mentor Ady and Nilus during the 2021 Norrsken Accelerator (open for applications), and I wrote about Ady and Nilus in FoodTech Weekly #65; check it out here. Nilus has massive impact potential, and is already making a big difference.
Second of all, in April 2022 Remilk announced they'd build the world's largest facility for cow free milk in Denmark, to open in 2023/2024. Last week, Danish media reported that Remilk had laid off their local Danish employees and dropped their plans for that factory. I mentioned in my newsletter that Remilk had cancelled their plans to build in Denmark. A spokesperson for Remilk reached out to state that they are not cancelling their plans to build in Denmark, just delaying them 'to a later stage in Remilk's expansion plan'.
Last week I actually wrote about the manufacturing scaling challenges that multiple food startups are facing. FoodTech Weekly reader Ilkka Taponen published his MBA thesis Lean Production Scale-up which studies exactly this topic, focusing on physical product innovations.
This week's rundown:
N2 Applied of Norway bags €10M in funding for emission free fertilizer
Danone aims to cut methane emissions with 30% by 2030
U.S. teen develops app that identifies nutritional deficiencies by analyzing fingernail images
Let's go!
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Noteworthy
Norwegian AgTech startup N2 Applied has raised €10M. The company has developed a technology that adds nitrogen from the air into livestock slurry, increasing the nitrogen content, preventing the loss of ammonia, and eliminating methane emissions.
U.K. FoodTech startup Multus Bio has banked a $9.5M Series A investment, including a non-dilutive $2.5M grant from Innovate U.K. through the EIC Accelerator. Mandi Ventures led the round, and it was joined by e.g. SOSV, Big Idea Ventures, SynBioVen, and Asahi Kasei Corp. Multus develops growth media which is used by the cellular agriculture industry.
French company Algama has secured a €13M round, from investors like Noshaq, Newtree Impact, Beyond Impact, Grupo Bimbo, and Thai Union Group. Algama, which produces microalgae which can be used. e.g. as an egg protein replacement, will now open a larger production plant in Belgium.
Danone plans to cut methane emissions from their fresh milk supply chain with 30% by 2030. The announcement aligns with the Global Methane Pledge, which also calls for 30% global cut in methane emissions by 2030, and has been signed by 150 countries.
Canadian No Meat Factory has scooped up a $42M Series B round to build a bigger manufacturing plant in the U.S. No Meat Factory produces things like plant-based e.g. pork, beef, chicken, meatballs, burgers, and seafood alternatives.
Nothing fishy
Chinese cultivated meat startup Jimi Biotech has bagged a $3M angel round led by Plum Ventures and Fanqie Capital, and joined by e.g. Green Leaf Ventures and Joyvio Capital. The new funding will be used to expand the team and boost R&D.
Finnish insect ingredient producer Volare will build a factory outside Helsinki capable of producing 5,000 tons of Black Soldier Fly derived proteins and lipids annually. The ingredients can then be used in e.g. aquafeed, petfood, or as organic fertilizer.
A U.S. teen has developed an app that uses AI to analyze images of fingernails, thus identifying nutritional deficiencies and suggesting beneficial dietary changes.
French AgTech startup MicoPhyto has taken in €4.2M in new funding. The company uses mycelium to revitalize soils, boost plant growth, and replace chemical fertilizers (h/t: DigitalFoodLab).
The co-founder of Nest has launched a new company, Mill, which has developed a compost that turns food scraps into a powder, by grinding and dehydrating leftovers. Mill then wants its users to mail them the powder for further processing, which is turned into animal feed, and sold to livestock partners (h/t: GreenBiz FoodWeekly).
Image: Mill
Evigence of Israel has snapped up $18M in Series B funding. The company has developed a 'Freshness Management System' that can track individual product temperature during the entire value chain, thus cutting food waste of items such as e.g. meat and vegetables.
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Notpla (U.K.) is hiring a Communications Design Lead... Entocycle (U.K.) has several open roles... Nordic SeaFarm (Sweden) is recruiting a Sales Manager... Fermify (Austria) is bringing on a Data Engineer... Revo Foods (Austria) is looking for an Account Manager... ruumi (remote) is hiring a Head of Growth... GFI has several open positions in the U.S.
FoodTech Weekly subscriber Patricia Leek is organizing an online meetup on Feb 1, 3pm CET for Open Food Chain, a blockchain startup for food supply chains: 'For this meetup we would love to invite everybody from the food industry who wants to know more about Web3 for food or join if you work with or in the Cacao industry.' RSVP here, and send any questions to [email protected]
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind: Sweden is getting rid of a requirement that mandates places like bars and restaurants to get a permit before letting guests dance. Says Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer: ' It is not reasonable for the state to regulate people’s dance.'
Somehow on-brand for Florida: A 4-foot (121 cm) boa constrictor was found in a passenger's luggage at Tampa International Airport; the woman claimed it was an 'emotional support' animal.
As George Costanza would say - significant shrinkage:
Egypt's '100 million trees' initiative which was launched in 2022 and runs til 2030, has already led to the planting of over 3 million trees in cities across the country. The initiative especially focuses on green spaces in urban areas, e.g. by planting fruit trees that help improve air quality, protect public health, and fight food insecurity.
Want to understand how the ag value chain works? Here's a great 5 min read.
'Laws are like sausages. It is best not to see them being made', said von Bismarck. Well, here's a 3 min video on how processed hot dogs are made.
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Sugar Man by Rodríguez. 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.