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- FoodTech Weekly #61 by Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #61 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
August 06, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #61
Hi there,
I'm officially a podcaster (yet another thing my Career Counselor in high school didn't get right, but to be fair, podcasts didn't really exist back then). Together with Sandra Malmberg of VC firm EQT Ventures, I've launched TheAppetizer. We'll share the stories of how breakthrough research and innovation is impacting how the world is producing, distributing, and consuming food -- and we'll do it by speaking to the leading entrepreneurs, innovators, and food system actors, who help shape the future of food.
The first 4 podcasts of our show are live on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify etc (basically wherever you listen to podcasts). Make sure to subscribe, and follow The Appetizer on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, so you don't miss any future updates.
We'll publish new content every sometimes (no really, we procrastinated a bit -- these episodes were recorded in the spring and we only published them now). As always, this is an experiment (just like this newsletter) so let's see how things play out. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.
Me and my co-host, Sandra Malmberg
In other (much less important, obviously) news this week, Bayer announced they'll phase out the sale of glyphosate-based products (incl. the herbicide Roundup) for residential use starting in 2023, in order to reduce future lawsuits alleging that glyphosate in Roundup has caused consumers to develop cancers.
Guess that means I should somehow safely dispose of this old Monsanto bottle of Roundup which has been sitting in our summer house garden shed for a while...
One more thing: Rising Tide is a group of VCs around Europe focused on restoring the planet. They specifically want to reach founders without the right network, contacts or background, to make sure new ideas and technologies get the attention they deserve. So Rising Tide's members offer their time for any entrepreneur looking for some extra help. No agenda, no fee, no catch. Rising Tide will be hosting office hours today, Friday, Aug 6, at 4pm CET (10am EST).
Highlights
Conversations: N/A
Noteworthy: Miyoko's raise $52M for alt cheese; Hudson River Biotechnology rake in $6M for CRISPR-based genome editing in plants; John Deere acquires autonomous tractor company Bear Flag Robotics for a cool $250M; researchers turn microalgae into trout feed to eliminate the need for fishmeal and fish oil; Wild Type aims to have cultivated salmon ready for market before New Year
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Random Stuff: American SUVs are now larger than WW2-era tanks; tracking dog poo offenders via DNA; Nigerian hipster herders. And more.
Conversations
Noteworthy
California company Miyoko's Creamery has scored $52M in Series C funding, in a round led by PowerPlant Partners and supported by CPT Capital, Stray Dog, and others. Miyoko's was founded in 2014, and produces plant-based cheese and butter products. The new funding will be used for further product development and increased distribution. (To learn more about the alt cheese space, Nate Crosser just wrote a wonderful post -- a must-read, really).
A couple of other news items from the alt dairy space: Australia's oldest dairy cooperative Norco has established Eden Brew, which cultivates dairy in bioreactors and expects to launch its first product in 18 months; NYC startup Helaina, which has raised $4M thus far, will use microbial fermentation to grow proteins 99% identical to those in breastmilk; Sustainable Food Ventures has announced an investment in De Novo Dairy, Africa's first recombinant dairy company.
Dutch ag biotech company Hudson River Biotechnology has raised €5M (about $6M) in Series A. The company focuses on non-transgenic CRISPR-based genome editing in plants -- meaning it doesn't introduce DNA from other species in the plants they're working on (allowing Hudson River to operate within EU regulatory frameworks).
U.S. tractor company John Deere just announced that they've acquired Bear Flag Robotics for $250M. Bear Flag raised a $7.9M extended Seed round earlier this year. Based in California, the company upgrades conventional tractors to autonomous tractors, that can be piloted by human supervisors. Customers include e.g. vegetable and commodity growers in Arizona and California.
Image; Bear Flag Robotics
Bioscience startup Protera has secured $10M in Series A funding. The company uses an AI algorithm to produce functional proteins that can e.g. replace artificial preservatives.
NYC-based startup Actual Veggies, which develops clean label / wholesome plant-based burgers, just banked $2.8M in new funding. Actual Veggies uses, well, nothing but actual veggies to produce their burgers. The company uses ingredients like black beans, carrots, broccoli, and beetroot, and is not trying to replicate the taste of meat.
Swiss alt protein startup Planted has announced a new raise of $21M in pre-Series B funding. Spun out of research institution ETH Zurich in 2019, the company has produced plant-based versions of e.g. chicken, kebab, pulled pork, and schnitzel.
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz (funded by a $1M USDA grant) are working on turning microalgae into aquafeed for trout, eliminating the need to use fishmeal and fish oil (which are sourced from forage fish).
AgFunder's 2021 Farm Tech Investment Report is out. FarmTech investments increased 41% YoY in 2020; most investments happened in the U.S., in particular in California. Check out the full report here.
Image source; AgFunder Farm Tech Investment Report
Israeli plant-based dairy startup Yofix has raised a $3.5M Series A round, which was led by Millennium Food-Tech. Other investors included e.g. Big Idea Ventures and The Kitchen FoodTech Hub. Yofix produces and sells clean label plant-based dairy products such as spreads, yogurt, and cheese. (For more examples of cool Israeli FoodTech startups, check out this landscaping I wrote in collaboration with FoodHack).
Seattle-based startup Wild Type, which is growing salmon in bioreactors, plans to have its sushi-grade cell-based salmon ready for the market before the end of 2021. According to Axios, it tastes indistinguishable from wild-caught or farmed-raised salmon.
South Korean FoodTech startup Seawith is hoping to bring the country's first cultivated steak to market within 2 years, and bring the price down to $3 per kilo (2.2 lbs) by 2030. The company plans to close a $7M Series A round within weeks. Seawith says it's using seaweed scaffolding and a microalgae-derived ingredient as culture media, enabling the company to lower production costs.
Incofin has launched an India-focused impact fund called Incofin India Progress Fund (IPF) with $60M in commitments. The fund will make private equity investments into the Indian AgTech/FoodTech sector, and in financial inclusion for rural entrepreneurs in India.
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Clara Foods is looking for a Senior Bioprocess Associate... Orbillion has a couple of positions available... Nilus is hiring a Food Security Consultant... Wefarm has a bunch of open roles, and so does Karana... Mirai Foods is recruiting a Bioprocess Engineer... Solar Foods has an open job ad for Senior Specialist, Advanced Protein Applications (first job ever in a Finnish private company for the purpose of commercializing cultivated meat).
Again, Rising Tide is hosting office hours today Friday, Aug 6, at 4pm CET (10am EST) -- don't miss it.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
American SUVs are now larger than the tanks used in WW2 (link includes some cool specs and pictures).
Dog owners in Tel Aviv will soon have to register their dog's DNA in a database; abandoned dog poo will be DNA tested so the dog owners can be tracked down and fined. Says Tel Aviv-Yafo spokesperson Eytan Schwartz: 'We have decided that the time has come to put an end to this phenomenon, and chosen a technology that identifies with total accuracy all of the responsible dogs and their owners.'
Hipster herders of Nigeria -- really nice photo essay.
A research vessel has found SpongeBob SquarePants and his buddy Patrick more than a mile under the Atlantic Ocean.
Image: Twitter
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Tu Vuo Fà L'Americano by Renato Carosone. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter (I'm @danielsruben on Clubhouse). Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.