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FoodTech Weekly #159 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
August 11, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #159
Hi there,
It’s good to be back - plenty of exciting news to report about, including some fun random stuff towards the end. As always, if you love FoodTech Weekly, send it to a friend (and if you don’t, send it to an enemy).
According to Dealroom data reported by Sifted, the #1 sector for Seed funding in Europe in July was (drumroll) AgTech/FoodTech:
Source: Sifted
European climate-focused food startups brought in a record level $1.9B of funding in 2022, up 20% from 2021. The sector is however still underfunded considering that the food system is 25-30% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, in 2019/20 the agrifood system received just 4.3% of total global climate financing according to a new report (which Green Queen summarizes very well). Why is this? I’ll co-moderate a roundtable on this topic at The Drop conference in Malmo in September.
This week's rundown:
Meatable clinches $35M Series B for cultivated meat
German supermarket chain Penny trialed true cost pricing for one week
A newly launched cologne/perfume has been designed to attract cows
Let's go!
Conversations
Felt the newsletter was getting too long this week, so will save the Conversation section for next Friday 😀
Noteworthy
Netherlands-based cultivated meat startup Meatable has closed a $35M Series B round led by Agronomics and joined by e.g. Invest-NL, BlueYard, DSM Venturing and Milky Way Ventures. The company, which was founded in 2018 and has 100+ employees, is preparing for a 2024 market launch of cultivated sausages and pork dumplings in Singapore.
Canberra, Australia-based startup Goterra, which uses black soldier fly larvae to turn foodwaste into protein (livestock feed) and fertilizer has secured a $10M bridge round.
Spanish startup ZoomAgri has banked a $6M Series A round for its solution that digitizes the inspection and traceability process for agricultural commodities such as grains and oilseeds. The round was led by GrainCorp and GrainInnovate. ZoomAgri says it already has a databsase of more than 250M individual images which power its algorithms.
Swedish precision fermentation startup Circulär has scooped up a ‘strategic investment round’ from Swiss industrial company MBP Solutions.
Plant-based seafood startup Konscious Foods of Canada has reeled in a $26M Seed round, backed by Protein Industries Canada, Zynik Capital, and Walter Group. Konscious Foods sells e.g. sushi rolls, onigiri stuffed rice snacks, and poke bowls, and are available e.g. at all Whole Foods’ locations.
Image: Konscious Foods
The IPC Fund will invest about €15M (appr. $16.5M) in Agricola Moderna, which will use the funding to build a vertical farm supplied 100% by renewable energy. The farm will be built in Agnadello in the Cremona province by Sept 2024, and is expected to produce over 900 tons of leafy vegetables every year.
German supermarket chain Penny has done a one-week pilot where they raised the prices of a selection of their products, to reflect the products’ real cost on human and planetary health. Wiener sausages e.g. increased in price from €3.19 to €6.01, mozzarella soared 74% in price, and fruit yoghurt increased by 31% in price. Prior to the pilot, scientists had calculated the hidden costs of e.g. soil damage from intensive farming and animal feed production, groundwater pollution from fertilizer, and the health impact of pesticides on farmers.
U.K. startup Aquanzo has raised £1.2M (appr. $1.5M); the company will grow Artemia (brine shrimp) in land-based facilities as a functional ingredient that can be combined with alternatives to conventional aquafeed.
The Ocean 14 Capital fund has received a €20M investment, taking it past its €150M funding goal. Investors include INGKA (part of the IKEA group of companies), Niklas Zennström (founder of Skype), and the European Investment Fund. Ocean 14 invests in aquaculture, alternatives to fish protein, sustainable fisheries, circular plastics, and seaweed.
Interesting 4 min segment on CBS News on how the Spanish region of Almería has transformed from desert to greenhouses, and how tech and innovations are used to drive this industry forward (in related news, here’s a beautiful photo essay on growing food in the Jordanian desert).
The greenhouses are visible from space. Image: CBS News
This I didn’t know: The CGIAR has genetically engineered ‘scuba rice’ that can survive under water for two weeks; a gene called SUB1 kicks in during a flood, making the plant dormant until the waters recede.
Copenhagen, Denmark-based Bactolife has bagged a €30M Series A round, led by ATHOS and joined by e.g. the Gates Foundation and Novo Holdings - reportedly one of the largest biotech Series A rounds in Europe. The startup develops proteins that enhance gut health in humans and animals to reduce gastrointesitinal infections. Bactolife also believes its product can help combat antimicrobial resistance.
Fascinating read in the WSJ: Gene-edited yeast could revolutionize food flavors. Instead of extracting smells and flavors from plants or synthesize them in labs, and then adding them to foods and drinks, scientists can tweak yeast genes to produce a variety of compounds. If e.g. cinnamon tree went extinct, we would still be able to get cinnamic acid through yeast.
Farmers in Canada have started to artificially inseminate 100+ cows with bull semen that has a low-methane genetic trait. Semex, the genetics company selling the semen, believes this could help cut methane emissions from Canada’s dairy herd with 20-30% by 2050.
I let AI generate a cow because I was too lazy to find a proper picture
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Some open FoodTech jobs: Geneticist at Beta Bugs (U.K.), Head of Marketing at Babylon Micro-Farms (U.S.), Lead Fermentation Scientist at Michroma (Argentina), COO at La Vie (France), Director of Microbiology at Aqua Cultured Foods (U.S.), Chief of Staff at Nutropy (France), Software Engineer at Hoxton Farms (U.K.), Protein Scientist at Onego Bio (Finland), Influencer Marketing Intern at Eat Grim (Denmark), Agricultural Market Lead Poland at Klim (Germany), and SVP Demand at Wildtype (U.S.).
Growing Further Awards are looking for innovators across 'Production & Packaging', 'Distribution', 'Retail', and 'Waste Reduction'. There will be category winners and an overall winner who will share a €100,000 prize fund. Apply by Oct 1, 2023.
Zinc is looking to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs who are passionate about transforming the health of the planet and people on their next Venture Builder starting in October 2023. Designed to launch you as a Founder, you will join the full-time, in-person, 12-month Venture Builder and match with a co-Founder from a curated cohort of world-class talent. You will receive up to £250k in early funding and gain access to mentorship & support from expert Fellows and coaches, investors, and Zinc’s in-house R&D team. Applications close on Aug 28, 2023.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
U.S. farmers are using fun and innovative tech to keep birds off of blueberry fields (30 sec video):
In the 1400s in England, it took an unskilled worker nearly 20 hours of labor to earn enough to buy a pound of sugar. In 2022, it took around 2 minutes (source: Human Progress).
Image source: Human Progress
This 2-minute ad from French telecom company Orange for the French national football (soccer) team is a must-watch. I can’t explain why because that will ruin it (h/t Kyle Westaway).
Somalia has suspended a sports official for nepotism after he let a relative run the 100m race in an international sports competition (fun video here. Spoiler: She didn’t win…)
Image: BBC Sport
This news clip however isn’t real, but is still fun.
I’m sure this will provoke someone: ‘Edible cemetery gardens would enliven the urban environment, promote green burial practices, and provide access to green space, fresh fruits and vegetables to those who need it most. A hybrid model for urban cemeteries to honour the departed by feeding the living.’
Edible Graveyards
Found online 👇 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Lisa Brodar who owns the Portland General Store in Oregon, U.S. has developed a new cologne/perfume that costs $110 a bottle and is specifically designed to attract cows: ‘I set out to make something sexy and subtle, that cows would find soothing.’
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat. 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.