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FoodTech Weekly #216 by Daniel S. Ruben
Daniel S. Ruben
October 04, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #216
Hi there,
World Economic Forum (and BCG) just launched two new reports:
‘Mainstreaming Food Innovation: A Roadmap for Stakeholders’ which provides a roadmap for stakeholders to scale and mainstream food innovations such as soil health, data/digital/AI, protein innovation and nutrition, and value chain management (e.g. sustainable packaging and waste management).
‘The Food Innovation Hubs Playbook’ — a practical, step-by-step guide for designing and launching successful regional or country Food Innovation Hubs (full disclosure, I contributed a bit to this report).
Both these reports are valuable, with lots of data, great visuals, and helpful advice. If food system transformation is your thing, you’ll really like these resources.
Two new helpful reports from WEF
This week's rundown:
💶 Foodforecast nets €3M to help stores automate ordering and cut food waste
🍫 Foreverland fetches €3.4M for carob-based alternative chocolate
🈹 Japanese food company increases price by $0.02; apologizes to customers
Let's go!
💬 Conversation with Karim-Franck Khinouche, CEO and Founder of Novolyze
Food safety is a multibillion-dollar industry, essential to safeguarding public health and preventing foodborne illnesses. Karim-Franck Khinouche was working for an equipment manufacturer when he saw a business opportunity; food processors lacked understanding of how effective their equipment was in killing pathogens. As a result, they often over processed food, which wasted resources. This observation was the genesis of Novolyze.
I recently sat down with Karim-Franck to discuss his journey and the innovative solutions his company is bringing to food safety. Read the full conversation here.
Karim-Franck Khinouche / Novolyze
💰 Funding
🇩🇪 Foodforecast, which uses AI to enable stores to automate ordering and production processes which helps cut food waste, has closed a €3M (appr. $3.3M) round led by Scalehouse Capital and Future Food Fund, and joined by e.g. Blue Horizon Ventures and Aeronaut Invest.
🇮🇹 Foreverland, which develops alt chocolate based on carob, has banked €3.4M (appr. $3.7M) in Seed funding from investors including Grey Silo Ventures, Eatable Adventures, Kost Capital, and Newland Syndicate. I interviewed cofounder Riccardo Bottiroli for FTW #179 earlier this year.
🇲🇾 Qarbotech has landed a $1.5M Seed extension round for its photosynthesis enhancement technology, which helps boost plant yields by up to 60%, and can cut fertilizer needs by 10-30%. Investors include 500 Global, Better Bite Ventures, ID Capital, EQT Foundation, and Epic Angels Limited.
🇮🇱 Better Pulse, which aims to ‘revolutionize plant-based nutrition through its unique Black-eyed pea protein protein’, has secured $400K in funding from the Israel Innovation Authority, according to a press release shared with FoodTech Weekly.
🇸🇪 Generation Waste, which e.g. provides a SaaS based measurement tool that helps foodservice kitchens cut food waste and boost profitability, has raised a pre-seed round, backed by e.g. GU Ventures and T-Klein Invest.
Generation Waste
🇫🇷 Micropep Technologies has raked in an additional $11M in Series B funding, bringing the total round to $40M. The company develops micropeptide-based crop protection solutions, providing an alternative to agrochemicals. Investors in the round include Corteva, Sparkfood, Zebra Impact Ventures, and BPI Green Tech Investments.
🇺🇸 Arzeda, which uses AI to design proteins and enzymes for use in e.g. natural sweeteners and biodegradable materials, has been splashed with $38M in a round led by Sofinnova Partners (h/t ClimateHack).
🏴 MiAlgae has reeled in £14M (appr. $18M) in Series A funding to build a commercial-scale facility which will produce omega-3 fatty acids using microalgae fermentation. Investors include e.g. SWEN Blue Ocean, Clay Capital, and Rabo Ventures.
🧐 Noteworthy
🐛 French insect breeding scaleup Ÿnsect, which has raised about $600M, has entered safeguarding proceedings — a voluntary procedure in France which takes place when a company is at a risk of insolvency.
📅 California has become the first U.S. state to ban ‘Sell By’ dates on packaged goods. Over 50 terms in use, like ‘Expires On’, ‘Freshest Before’, and ‘Sell By’, mislead some consumers into thinking a product is no longer safe to eat, which results in food waste. Starting in mid-2026, producers will have to use either ‘Use By’ (communicating product safety) or ‘BEST if Used By’ (communicating peak quality).
🧀 Dutch-Belgian alt cheese startup Those Vegan Cowboys has debuted its precision-fermented casein protein, and announced plans to launch an animal-free cheese next year.
🤝 Swedish AgTech NitroCapt has signed a SEK 10M (appr. $1M) offtake agreement for its low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer with Norwegian farmers’ cooperative Felleskjøpet Agri. NitroCapt has developed a process for electrifying nitrogen fertilizer (full disclosure, I’m advisor to NitroCapt).
📌 Kagome and SVG Ventures have launched the $50M SVG Ventures Sunrise Fund, which will invest in early-stage startups innovating in climate-resilient agriculture. The fund will invest $500K to $1M in each deal.
🧐 Important reminder from the Executive Director of Project Drawdown:
🌍 News from the FoodTech Weekly community
🤩 Green Queen just launched Green Queen Gulf, saying it is the world’s first agrifood + climate newsletter dedicated to the Gulf region. The media platform also announced the launch of Climate Kitchen, ‘a content universe for climate-curious parents.’
👨🏻💻 Alt Protein Careers, a job site and recruitment platform for the alternative protein industry, has expanded to Europe, where it will connect companies scaling sustainable food solutions with top talent. More info here.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
🎲 Random Stuff
⚰️ Coal has now died in its birthplace, as the U.K. just closed its last coal power station. Here are the 10 countries phasing out coal the fastest.
🤖 A new video of Google Deepmind’s Aloha shows the system can now e.g. tie shoelaces and hang laundry (1 min):
🚢 At the three top ports in the U.S., 75% of shipping containers return to their home countries completely empty (h/t Quartz).
🍽️ U.S. restaurant portions are about to get smaller, NYT notes.
🍕Domino’s have launched a lockable, noise-activated alarm-equipped pizza safe for leftover slices, as research shows 65% of students living in shared accommodation have had their food stolen at some point.
💔 Beautiful text by Marie Dollé on the passing of her father (French original here):
Image: Marie Dollé
🇯🇵 Food inflation is real: Japanese company Yaokin has hiked up the price for its popular puffed corn snack Umaibo from 12 yen to 15 yen ($0.08 to $0.10), it’s second and largest increase in 45 years, citing rising costs of inputs such as corn, labor, and shipping. The company apologized profusely for the price increase and begged customers for their understanding.
I love you.
Daniel
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🎵 This issue was produced while listening to What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish.
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