- FoodTech Weekly
- Posts
- FoodTech Weekly #58 by Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #58 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
July 16, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #58
Hi there,
FoodHack interviewed me for an article on angel investing (which led to a bunch of new subs for this newsletter - welcome y'all!). The article includes a great list of active FoodTech angels -- go check it out here (speaking of angels, Sifted just published a list of 100 female angel investors in Europe - although not FoodTech focused).
Matthieu Vincent of DigitalFoodLab in France does great coverage of FoodTech. DigitalFoodLab just released the fifth edition of their yearly report on the state of the French FoodTech ecosystem. Some findings:
In 2020, French FoodTech startups raised €606M, which was 50% more than in 2019. But this growth was mainly driven by three large deals in scale-up companies (Insect, InnovaFeed, Swile), which combined accounted for 74% of all the money raised in 2020. And during the first 6 months of this year, French FoodTech startups have only managed to raise €155M, so it seems 2020 might have been an unusually successful year in terms of fundraising. DigitalFoodLab also notes that not much investments happens in France for e.g. cloud kitchens, grocery delivery, and alternative protein (but perhaps Gourmey is a sign of things to come -- more on them below). Download the entire report for free here.
It's summer, but the world of FoodTech is busy as ever with exciting news. I hope you'll enjoy today's edition of FoodTech Weekly.
Ps. Do people still use Clubhouse? 👋
Highlights
Conversations: N/A
Noteworthy: French startup Gourmey raises $10M Seed for cell-cultivated foie gras (and more); Indian vertical-farming startup Urbankisaan raises undisclosed sum; U.S. researchers successfully use CRISPR-Cas9 to precision breed sugarcane; new U.K. National Food Strategy calls for sugar and salt taxes plus 30% meat consumption reduction; Nestlé explores cell-cultivated meat
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Random Stuff: Trout hooked on meth; Korean treadmills now have speed limits; kids are getting out of school by spoofing covid tests using soft drinks; an awesome tomato sorter. And more.
Conversations
Noteworthy
Gourmey, based in Paris, France, has raised a $10M Seed round (the largestever seed round for cell-cultivated poultry). The startup develops cell-cultivated foie gras, and will use the funding to start a pilot production plant, and launch a first product by late 2022 or early 2023. Products like duck, chicken, and turkey will follow. I spoke with Gourmey's CEO and co-founder, Nicolas Morin-Forest, in September last year for FoodTech Weekly #18, so check that out for more context.
Image: Nicolas Morin-Forest / Gourmey
Some news from the plant-based alternatives space: Beyond Meat just launched Beyond Chicken Tenders, and announced they aim to underprice beef by 2024; Paris-based startup Umiami has secured €2.3M ($2.7M) in Seed funding for its whole muscle-cut meat using only vegetables; Harvest Bof Sydney, Australia has raised $3.5M in Seed funding, with Woolworths as a lead investor; Next Gen Foods of Singapore has raked in a $20M Seed extension, and now plans to launch sales in the U.S. of its plant-based chicken alternative.
Arborea, which is based in the U.K. and has developed a cultivation platform for photosynthetic microorganisms, has closed a €3.6M funding round. The company hopes to cultivate commercial-grade functional ingredients and proteins used in food and beverage applications.
Indian fish farmer network Aquaconnect has picked up $4M in pre-Series A funding from AgFunder, HATCH, Omnivore, and others. Based in Chennai, the startup digitizes the entire seafood production chain, connecting 30,000+ smallholder fish and shrimp farmers with suppliers and customers across several Indian states.
Vertical-farming startup Urbankisaan, based in Hyderabad, India, just raisedan undisclosed amount from the VC arm of BASF. The startup grows herbs, fruits and vegetables using vertical farming, and sells the produce through franchised in-person and online stores.
University of Florida / U.S. DOE researchers have successfully used CRISPR-Cas9 to precision breed sugarcane. They hope the findings will lead to the development of sugarcane which needs less nitrogen fertilizer, and can withstand herbicides.
A fermented-food diet increases microbiome diversity and lowers inflammation a new study from Stanford University shows. Study participants were randomly assigned to a 10-week diet that included either fermented or high-fiber foods. Those eating foods such as yoghurt, kefir, fermented cottage cheese, kimchi, and kombucha experienced an increase in microbial diversity, and a decrease in 19 inflammatory proteins.
Researchers in Singapore believe they have found a compelling plant-based alternative to FBS, fetal bovine serum, which has been used to produce cell-cultivated meat. The new alternative is a liquid extracted from fermented soya pulp. FBS is not only expensive but also ethically unsustainable for the cell-cultivation industry to use.
The U.K. National Food Strategy paper was just released. Among other things, it calls for a 30% reduction in meat consumption, for GPs to try to prescribe fruits and vegetables to patients, and for new taxes on sugar and salt. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already indicated he's not in favor of such new taxes.
Image source: The U.K. National Food Strategy paper
U.S. pollution reductions between 1999 and 2019 contributed to 20% of the increase in soybean and corn yields during that period, a new study shows.
Swiss FMCG giant Nestlé is exploring opportunities in cell-cultivated meat, together with Israeli cell-cultured meat startup Future Meat Technologies (as well as other undisclosed startups). Nestlé is curious about e.g. blending cell-cultivated meat with plant-based meat alternatives. In somewhat related news, Coca-Cola Israel has signed an agreement to invest up to $2M into Israeli startup Biomilk, which produces cell-cultured dairy and human breast milk.
Aqua-Spark, one of the world's leading sustainable aquaculture investment firms, is the lead investor into Sea6 Energy's $9M Series B round. Sea6, which is based in India, produces and processes seaweed cultivated in the open ocean; its system can simultaneously harvest and replant seaweed. The seaweed is then used for food, feed, biofuels and bioplastics. Here are some pictures and much more details.
'Right to repair' is not just an important issue when it comes to iPhones; farmers want the right to repair their own equipment, without manufacturers' consent. New U.S. legislation aims to make this possible.
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Formo is looking for a Chief of Staff... Smallfood is hiring an R&D Director... Gourmey is recruiting for a number of positions, including Quality Assurance Manager and a Head of Regulatory Affairs... AgFunder is looking to hire a VC Investment Associate... GFI Europe has an open role for Public Affairs Manager - Germany... Tortuga AgTech is recruiting a Full Stack Software Engineer... Mycorena is hiring for a bunch of positions, including Fermentation Specialist and Food Scientist... Plenty is looking to bring on a Research Scientist... Clara Foods has an open position for Research Associate... Wildtype is hiring a Research Associate in Tissue Engineering... Meatable has a bunch of open positions.
The Eco AgriFood Challenge is open for applications until July 20, 2021.
XPRIZE Feed The Next Billion is a $15M competition incentivizing teams to produce chicken breast or fish fillet alternatives that replicate or outperform conventional chicken and fish in access, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, nutrition, taste, and texture. Some 28 semi-finalist teams from 14 countries were just announced. Check them out here and here.
The GlobalSF Grand Challenge is for entrepreneurs and companies from around the world to propose solutions to urban food system challenged in the San Francisco Bay Area, with the potential for global scale. A small pilot is launching in 2021, followed by a full launch in 2022. More info here.
Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, Videos for Change Global Competition has a special category called the Rockefeller Youth Voice Awards, which asks young people aged 13-18 to create one-minute videos about an issue they're passionate about, to better the food system.
The GlobalSF-Nestlé Waste Reduction Pilot seeks innovators solving or minimizing the impact of packaging on the environment, particularly frictionless, convenient experiences that entice customers to use refill options to reduce the amount of packaging they purchase. Selected companies will be given $10K cash and build prototypes to be tested in real life in The Market Hall in San Francisco. Details and application here.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
New COVID-19 regulations in South Korea have banned songs over 120 beats per minute during gym group exercises, and limited treadmill speed to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). The regulations are designed to 'prevent excessive breathing' and the spreading of sweat, but have been met with ridicule by gym goers.
Salmon on a fish farm in Germany may have been high on cocaine (which reminds us of that time researchers got trout hooked on meth...for science).
This optical tomato sorter is super fascinating (18 sec video)
'How Silicon Valley Set Agtech Back A Decade' - an interesting read on how the vast majority of agriculture value accrues in the middle of the supply chain (traders, manufacturers, brands and retailers) and how AgTech business models therefore must be adjusted to incentivize farmers to adopt new tools and technologies.
School children are spoofing COVID-19 tests by using soft drinks (thus getting out of school by providing false positive covid tests) -- now a UK professor of chemistry has found a way to unhack the spoof.
For National Mac and Cheese Day (July 14), Kraft and Van Leeuwen released a mac and cheese-flavored ice cream. Publication The Cut's reaction: 'This Is What Greets You at the Gates of Hell.'
Image: Kraft
I love you.
Daniel
- - -
This issue was produced while listening to One More Time by Daft Punk. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter (I'm @danielsruben on Clubhouse). Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.