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FoodTech Weekly #57 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
July 09, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #57
Hi there,
And an extra warm welcome to all new subscribers. This newsletter is a mix of conversations (on hold over the summer) I'm having with interesting folks in the FoodTech space, general FoodTech news, updates from members of the FoodTech Weekly community, and some random stuff.
This week the Norrsken Impact Accelerator (where I'm a venture partner / mentor) kicked off -- the FoodTech startups in the cohort include Complete Farmer, Nilus, Sensegrass, and Xilinat (selected from over 500 applying food/ag/beverage startups). These companies -- ranging from places from Latin America to Africa and India -- are all outstanding, and I hope to share their exciting stories with you over the coming weeks.
This week, an Asian alt protein company raised a Series A round not far from $100M (which is absolutely bonkers). We know this because a very famous business media outlet messed up and published an embargoed press release, before quickly pulling it offline. I don't kiss and tell though. But these news rekindled my concern that we might be in a significant bubble, when it comes to FoodTech investments. We've seen this movie before, and it didn't end well.
Time will tell.
Highlights
Conversations: N/A
Noteworthy: Aleph Farms raise $105M Series B round for cell-cultivated meat; Meati Foods closes $50M round for mycelium-based whole cuts of meat; Equilibrium Capital closes $1.1B fund which will do investments into vertical farming and high-tech greenhouses; Time-traveling Milkman takes in €550K in funding for fat technology that make dairy alternatives taste better; ransomware attack shuts down Swedish supermarket chain COOP for almost a week
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Random Stuff: Recycling bowling balls; bank error in your favor - collect $50B. And more.
Conversations
Noteworthy
Aleph Farms of Israel just raised a $105M Series B round. The company develops cell-cultivated meat, and hopes to launch its first commercial product in 2022. Aleph Farms was first to launch prototypes for cell-cultivated beef and ribeye steaks. The funding round was led by the Growth Fund of L Catterton and DisruptAD (out of Abu Dhabi). Some new and existing investors include Thai Union, Strauss Group, Cargill, and CPT Capital.
Image: Aleph Farms
Equilibrium Capital has closed a $1.1B controlled environment agriculture (CEA) fund, with European pension funds as anchor investors. The fund will invest in high-tech greenhouses, indoor vertical farms, and other sectors in need of CEA facilities such as alternative proteins and aquaculture. In related news, U.S. indoor vertical farming company Farm.One has opened a new 10,000 sq. ft (1,000 sq. m) farm in Brooklyn, New York. And while you're at it, read this great NYT piece on soilless, indoor farming, which outlines both the opportunities and challenges with this new type of production.
Meati Foods of Colorado has completed a $50M Series B round. The company uses mycelium to create whole cuts of meat, using fermentation. The funding will be used in pat to complete construction of a 80,000 sq. ft. (8,000 sq. m) production plant, that the company claims will produce the daily equivalent of 4,500 cows in meat, every day. Commercial launch is planned for 2022.
German farmer marketplace startup Agrando has raked in $14.3M in Series A funding. The company, launched in 2017, has 20,000 farmers registered on its platform, and provides both tech tools to help improve decision-making, as well as ag inputs. Agrando is currently active in the German-speaking countries plus France, and aims to further expand geographically.
Fat ingredient provider Time-traveling Milkman (yeah, that's the actual name of the company) has scooped up €550K in new investment. The company, which is a spinout from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) in the Netherlands extracts fat droplets from seeds such as sunflower to make creamy unsaturated fat ingredients. This helps improve the texture and characteristics of alternative dairy products.
A ransomware attack that hit thousands of companies all over the world also shut down the software for the cash registers at Swedish food retailer chain COOP, forcing the company to close 800 stores for almost a week. COOP's payment provider had to physically go to all stores and restore the machines from backups.
Swiss FoodTech startup AgroSustain has closed a Series A round, raising CHF 4.8M ($5.2M). The company's solution extends the freshness of fruits, vegetables, and cut flowers by up to one month, which reduces food waste and enables the shipping of various crops by sea instead of by air, which is an environmental win.
U.S. yoghurt maker Chobani, which recently launched a plant-based line of products, has quietly filed paperwork for an IPO. The company is said to aim for a $10B valuation. Next up: Impossible Foods?
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Nilus is hiring a Marketing Communication Manager... Oceanium is looking for an R&D Manager... Geltor is filling a role for Materials Scientist... Nowadays is recruiting a Community Engagement and Customer Experience Manager... Orbillion Bio is looking for a Mammalian Cell Biologist... betterfish is recruiting a Business Development Manager.
ProVeg Incubator is open for applications. Startups accepted into the incubator get up to €200K in funding, expert mentoring, and access to industry contacts. Deadline to apply is July 18.
Resonance, Mars, CIAT, and ForFarmers are hosting a webinar on Thursday July 15 on farmer-centric design for transitioning to regenerative agriculture.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
How do you recycle a bowling ball? (hint: you can't)
Chase, one of the largest retail banks in the U.S., accidentally deposited $50 billion dollars into a Louisiana family's bank account. Says account holder Darren James: 'That's not like a one zero error or a two zero error, that's somebody that fell asleep on the keyboard error.'
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Man O To by Nu. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter (I'm @danielsruben on Clubhouse). Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.