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- FoodTech Weekly #66 by Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #66 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
September 10, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #66
Hi there,
If you're reading this, I guess you like the newsletter. But there's always room for improvement, right? So please answer this 4 question survey on FoodTech Weekly, and help me make this newsletter better for you.
Speaking about room for improvement: Last week, I mentioned Plantible's $21.5M Series A round, and wrote that duckweed doubles in plant-mass every 48 years. That should've said 48 hours. Tiny difference, I know. Duckweed isn't exactly a slow-growing white cedar.
Enjoy your weekend!
Highlights
Conversations: N/A
Noteworthy: Olio raises $43M for food-sharing app; DSM gains regulatory approval in LATAM for feed additive that block cow methane emissions; WUR announces free licenses for its CRISPR patents; genetically modified cowpea is planted in Nigeria; Impossible Foods launches chicken nugget product; cell-based startup CellX in China brings in $4.3M in new funding
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Random Stuff: Bad-mouthing ducks; bologna smuggling; why 18th century French hairdressers were doing algorithms en masse. And more.
Conversations
Noteworthy
U.K. food sharing startup Olio has raised a $43M Series B, led by investor VNV Global and joined by DX Ventures. Olio will use part of the raise to expand into new markets in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Olia works with volunteers that can pick up excess food for free from e.g. supermarkets (who are then charged a small fee).
Tomorrow Foods of Argentina has raised a $3M round. The startup produces plant-based burgers. Over in New York, NUMU Food Group which produces plant-based cheese has closed a Series A round (sum undisclosed), backed by Unovis and Clear Current Capital. Down under, Australian plant-based alternatives startup All G Foods has raked in $16M in new funding. And in India, plant-based alternatives startup Goodmylk has secured$1M in new funding. Next door in China, cell-based meat startup CellX has brought in $4.3M in funding. Back over in the U.S., Impossible Foods is launching Impossible Chicken Nuggets in foodservice and retail this month.
Nomy of Norway has raised an undisclosed sum in a new funding round. The startup, which was founded in 2020, uses fungal mycelium (the root-like filaments of fungi) to create foods such as new meat alternatives and protein sources, as well as new materials such as bio-composites.
Agricycle has taken in $2.4M in new capital to help repurpose food waste from African smallholder farmers. Many of these farmers currently end up throwing away large portions of their crops due to a lack of adequate storage. Agricycle provides solar dehydrators to smallholder farmers, helping them to upcycle excess fruits like mangoes and jackfruit, and turn them into longer-lasting dry snacks. The farmers also upcycle agricultural waste like coconut shells and palm kernels into charcoal.
Cell-based startup Wild Type, headquartered in Seattle, says that if their cell-based salmon would be sold for $30-$40 per plate at a restaurant, both Wild Type and the restaurant would turn a profit. So when will cell-based meat hit the market? Predictions vary wildly. The below chart is helpful (click to explore the data). (By the way, the U.S. government is currently asking for input on what to even call cell-based meat. So if you feel strongly for 'Meaty McMeatFace', here's your chance).
Dutch company DSM has gained full regulatory approval in Brazil and Chile to commercialize its methane-reducing feed additive Bovaer. When ruminants like cows eat the equivalent of a quarter teaspoon of the additive, methane emissions are reduced by 30% (dairy cows) to 90% (beef cows), DSM claims.
Genetically modified cowpea has now been planted in Nigeria; the new variety can resist the Maruca pod borer. Cowpea is a staple food in Nigeria. Scientists hope that the new GM cowpea will improve food security, and boost farmer incomes (as yields will improve and the need for pesticides will be reduced).
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) has announced it will provide potential partners with free licenses to work on WUR's patented CRISPR technology. The license must be applied to gene-editing of plants for non-profit applications. WUR believes its approach with free licenses for CRISPR is fairly unique in the academic world (and beyond), and hope it will help in the fight against global hunger. The U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office alone has 6,000 CRISPR patents or patent applications -- and universities dominate the CRISPR patent landscape. So if this trend catches on, getting free licenses could become an important opportunity for non-profits looking to e.g. fight hunger by using CRISPR.
ICYMI: According to a recent report from The Rockefeller Foundation, the true cost of food in the U.S. is nearly $3.2 trillion - triple what American consumers currently spend on food. These hidden costs come from the impact of the food system on society (such as health care costs) and the environment.
News from the infant nutrition space: Women health tech startup Elvie has added to its Series C round, bringing it to $97M in total. The company develops and sells e.g. a wearable breast pump. Investors in the round included e.g. IPGL, Hiro Capital, Westerly Winds, and Blume Equity, a women-led growth equity impact fund investing in sustainable food and health companies (full disclosure: I'm an advisor to Blume).
Some people have hypothesized that plant-based meat alternatives are ultraprocessed and thus unhealthy. A new research study had participants replace several weekly meat meals with plant-based meat meals. The study found that eating plant-based meat alternatives instead of animal-sourced meat promoted positive changes in the gut microbiome [My comment: As always, more research is needed].
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Orbillion Bio (US) is hiring a Senior Scientist... Wild Type (US) is recruiting an Upstream Bioprocess Scientist... Mosa Meat (The Netherlands) is looking for a Lab Assistant....Stockeld Dreamery (Sweden) has an open role for a Process Engineer...The Spoon (US) is looking for a paid intern, and a writer... UPSIDE Foods (US) is hiring a Marketing Manager.
On September 16, Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition is hosting 'Fixing the Business of Food, a 90 minute online event with some interesting speakers.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
How do early-stage VCs think before making an investment into a startup, to try to ensure that their fund has a certain amount of financial return? Very helpful visual explainer by Jyri Engeström of Yes VC.
1950's ad for butter, that I came across online:
Why (and how) hairdressers in revolutionary France were used to calculate the taxable areas of real estate in the country. Fantastic story by Azeem Azhar.
A U.S. motorist was caught trying to smuggle 320 lbs (145 kgs) of contraband bologna from Mexico into Texas.
An Australian duck has been recorded to mimic sounds including human speech. The talking duck's first words? 'You bloody fool.'
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Opus by Erik Prydz. 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.