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- FoodTech Weekly #62 by Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #62 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
August 13, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #62
Hi there,
This is me, trying to navigate the GMO issue without upsetting people in both camps and getting a ton of unsubscribes:
This week, I tried non-alcoholic functional beers. JoyBräu in Germany were so kind to send me some samples (guess that makes me an influencer -- yet another thing my high school Career Counselor didn't see coming). I'm not a beer person, so I brought in a friend from Switzerland who is, C.G. (he's tried well over 1,000+ types of beer, all meticulously logged in Untappd). We were pleasantly surprised by JoyBräu's Protein Beer Light (low-calorie, low-sugar, and 7g of protein) -- in fact, it was really good. On the other hand, C.G. and I weren't fans of the lemon, grapefruit, and vitamin beers. Will JoyBräu catch on? I have no idea. I can certainly see the use case; enjoying beer with some bonus features and without the adverse effects (although I'm sure some people find these effects desirable).
JoyBräu
A reminder that our podcast, The Appetizer, is now live. Hundreds of you have already listened. In the first episode we speak with Fredrik Åkerman of Volta Greentech. Volta is growing seaweed which is fed to cows as a feed additive; this reduces cow methane emissions (from burping and farting) by up to 80%.
OK, let's get down to business.
Highlights
Conversations: Lalit Gautam, Sensegrass
Noteworthy: Shiok Meats acquires Gaia Foods; 80 Acres Farms raises $160M for vertical farming scale-up; Proteon raises €21M to help reduce antibiotics use in aquaculture and livestock farming; ultra-processed foods now constitute 2/3 of U.S. children's calorie consumption; Nitricity announces $5M for renewable fertilizer; Khula raises $1.4M for farmer marketplace in South Africa
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Random Stuff: Chameleon robots; meatball-scented candles; what startups need (and don't) for their Series A data rooms. And more.
Conversations
I recently had a chance to sit down with Lalit Gautam, co-founder and CEO of Sensegrass (part of the Norrsken Impact Accelerator’s first cohort). Lalit’s grandfather had a big family farm in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, growing wheat and sugarcane, but the farm was sold in the 1960s. Lalit himself studied pharmaceuticals and medicine, before going to business school for an MBA — but he always had a bit of a passion for farming. In 2019, he met his co-founder Rahul Gundala and launched Sensegrass, a soil intelligence platform aimed at improving soil quality. Sensegrass can help farmers, big and small, to reduce costs and CO2 emissions, by e.g. reducing fertilizer use. Conventional soil testing is manual, has low accuracy, is expensive, and is time-consuming. Sensegrass uses soil sensors, satellite images, and historical soil data to create actionable insights, essentially telling the farmer what to do. The company has customers in the U.S., Europe, and India, and is growing rapidly. Lalit is eager to connect with potential customers in AgTech and Cleantech, and Sensegrass is also currently raising a $1M Seed round which will be used for product development and optimizing the go-to-market. Lalit can be contacted via email.
Lalit Gautam, Sensegrass
Noteworthy
Singapore-HQ’ed cell-based seafood startup Shiok Meats has acquired a 90% stake in cell-based red meat producer Gaia Foods (which is also based in the Little red dot). The acquisition sum was undisclosed. The deal (the first-ever in cell-based meat in Asia) helps Shiok Meats expand from seafood to e.g. pork, beef, and mutton. In the same industry but in Africa, Mzansi Meats has closed a pre-seed round led by Sustainable Food Ventures as well as members of the Glass Wall Syndicate, and others.
Canadian Xpertsea has raised a $20M Series B round. Xpertsea has built a marketplace that uses AI and financial services to connect shrimp farmers with a network of vetted buyers, ensuring same-day payment. Investors in the round included e.g. QED Investors, Atlantico, and Investissement Quebec, joining previous investors such as Obvious Ventures, Aqua-Spark, Future Shape, Real Ventures, and edō Capital.
Proteon Pharmaceuticals, which is based in Poland, has secured €21M in new funding from investors such as Nutreco, Aqua-Spark, and the Polish Development Fund. Proteon's technology (which includes ‘bacteriophage cocktails’) can help reduce the use of antibiotics in aquaculture and livestock farming.
80 Acres Farms, of Ohio, U.S., has raised a $160M Series B round, to scale its vertical farming operations. The company uses renewable energy to grow its leafy greens, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and microgreens. The round was led by General Atlantic, with participation from Siemens, Blue Earth Capital, and others. 80 Acres Farms, which currently operates eight indoor farms, already supplies produce to 600 retail and foodservice locations. In industry-related news, U.S. vertical farming company Kalera just acquired its German peer &ever in a deal worth $153M.
Vertical farm. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Khula of Johannesburg, South Africa has announced a (2020) $1.4M fundraise to expand its farmer marketplace. The startup connects farmers with almost 90 suppliers offering 2,000 products, as well as access to financial services, storage facilities, crop advisors, and more.
v2Food of Australia has raked in $53M in Series B funding to help it expand across the globe. The startup produces plant-based sausage and ground beef alternatives. Investors include e.g. Astanor, ABC World Asia, Temasek, Horizon Ventures, and Main Sequence. The company will use the fresh funds to expand across Asia and introduce new products such as plant-based pork. Also in Australia, Fable Food has raised $4.8M for its mushroom-based meat alternatives.
Plant Jammer's 'Empty Your Fridge' widget is now available on the websites of Aldi Süd and RIMI Baltic. Plant Jammer has developed a Digital Chef app, which turns the idea of a recipe on its head by creating quick and delicious recipes based on available ingredients. The user will tell the app what e.g. vegetables are available in the fridge - the app will then suggest different dishes such as soups, salads, stews, etc, and give simple, step-by-step instructions on how to cook the dish. The idea is to reduce food waste and move consumers towards more plant-centric diets. The 'Empty Your Fridge' widget is an offshoot of the Digital Chef App. Consumers can select the ingredients they have at home, and get a customized recipe in return. Plant Jammer aims to launch the widget on 100 food company websites by the end of 2021, and on 5,000 websites by 2023.
The FAO has determined the COVID-19 is not a direct food safety concern. Current evidence says that neither food nor food packaging, is a vector for spreading viruses such as COVID-19 (and yet, this M.D. has racked up 26M views on this video on how to safely 'disinfect' groceries from COVID).
New research shows that ultra-processed foods are the majority of calories for U.S. children, and is going up -- now constituting 2/3 of calories consumed. From 1999 to 2018, the percent of calories from ultra-processed foods consumed by U.S. chidden increased from 61% to 67%. Intake is not related to household income, nor parent's education level. There's been a significant increase in ready-to-eat mixed dishes and sweet bakery products, but a decline in sugar-sweetened beverages. The researchers hypothesize that the increased consumption of ultra-processed foods is linked to excessive calorie consumption and weight gain (U.S. childhood obesity rates have been rising during the past 20 years).
Source: Wang L, Martínez Steele E, Du M, et al. Trends in Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among US Youths Aged 2-19 Years, 1999-2018. JAMA. 2021;326(6):519–530. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.10238
AgTech startup Nitricity has announced a $5M Seed investment. The company produces ready-to-use renewable fertilizer using only air, water, and renewable electricity. Nitricity believes its technology has the potential to eliminate 1 gigaton of carbon equivalent per year while saving farmers money.
Kiwibot and Sodexo are bringing delivery robots to three U.S. college campuses this month, and these robots are pretty cute.
Startup QOA is producing chocolate using precision fermentation. The company has now closed a pre-seed round, led by investors such as Y Combinator, Nucleus Capital, Trellis Road VC, Fredrik Jung Abbou, Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss, and Ron Shigeta.
QOA pralines. Image source: Max Bade
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
ReelData AI (Canada) is hiring a Head of Growth... GlassWall Syndicate (US) is recruiting an Operations Coordinator... Nobell Foods (US) is looking for at least 12 new colleagues... FUNCiFUR (g) has an open position as Customer Success Associate... Hooked (Sweden) is hiring for a People Manager and a few more roles... v2food (Australia) is recruiting a Procurement Manager... IDH (the Netherlands) is looking for a Senior Environmental and Social Manager... Ignitia (Brazil/remote) has an open position for Regional Director... Helikon Consulting (US) is hiring a recent Ph.D. analyst... The Bezos Earth Fund (US) is recruiting a Director for The Future of Food.
AgLaunch is calling all AgTech startups that accelerate the adoption of farmer-first, sustainable production practices for row crop agriculture, including regenerative soil health, water and nutrient management, labor and data management, improved efficiency in production, and traceability. Apply to the Row Crop Challenge before Sep 6, 2021.
Thought For Food is hosting the TFF Global Summit on Oct 2, dubbed the 'SXSW of Food and Agriculture.'
Neeraj Berry has launched Tet Ventures, a FoodTech and climate-focused venture fund aiming to rebuild the global food system. The Fund (which focuses on pre-seed and seed, mainly in Europe and North America) has already invested in 20 startups. More info, and how to get in touch with Tet Ventures, here.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
Found this gem on an (admittedly old) fridge in a family member's summer house: 'Now twice as environmentally friendly -- Half the amount of freon 11.' I guess not all ozone layer heroes wear capes...
IKEA in the U.S. has created a new candle called HUVUDROLL, with the scent of meatballs.
What startups need (and don't need) in their Series A data room: Good, quick read.
Scientists have developed a chameleon robot that can change color, and it looks awesome.
A helicopter landed on a middle school parking lot in Canada, because the pilot and/or passenger had cravings for ice cream cake and decided to pay a visit to a store across the street. The pilot has now been charged with dangerous operation of an aircraft.
"What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind: Grief, conspiracy theories, and one family’s search for meaning in the two decades since 9/11." Beautiful long-read from the Atlantic. It'll take you an hour. It's worth it.
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Breakfast in America by Supertramp. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter(I'm @danielsruben on Clubhouse). And here's the Appetizer podcast which I co-host. Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.