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FoodTech Weekly #69 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
October 01, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #69
Hi there,
Almost all COVID restrictions were lifted in Sweden this week. This is actual footage of me heading outside for the first time since March 2020:
I'll try to be concise, because 15% of those responding to the FoodTech Weekly feedback survey felt the newsletter is too long (the survey is still open by the way, so if you have 30 seconds to spare, please take it).
This week's rundown:
Trick your brain, skip the sugar: Scented air water startup air up bags €40M in new funding
How much is the fish: Dutch aquaculture investor Aqua-Spark launches $50M investment fund focused on Africa
You say tomato, I say tomato: CRISPR-edited tomato goes on sale in Japan to help reduce blood pressure
Let's go!
Conversations
Noteworthy
Perfect Day Foods of California, which cultivates whey and casein protein in bioreactors using precision fermentation, just announced $350M in Series D funding, meaning the company has now raised over $710M. Temasek and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board led the round. The company is said to prepare an IPO over the next 12 months.
Pennsylvania-based AgTech startup Burro has raised $10.9M, with S2G Ventures and Toyota Venture as lead investors. The company develops autonomous robots that can help move produce from the field to the warehouse. Burro currently has 90 robots out in the field, each traveling around 100-300 mi (160-480 km) per day, six days a week. The new funding will be used to scale up production with another 500 robots during 2022. Meanwhile in Israel, MetoMotion has secured $5M in new funding for its robots that help growers operate greenhouses, e.g. by harvesting and transporting crops.
Image: Burro
Aqua-Spark, one of the largest sustainable aquaculture investment funds in the world, is planning to launch a $50M fund dedicated to aquaculture in Africa -- and that the fund will grow to $300M over the next 6-8 years. Aqua-Spark says it has 300 companies in its investment pipeline in Africa.
Controlled environment analytics platform Artemis has been acquired by iUNU in Seattle for an undisclosed sum. Artemis is a software-as-a-service platform that allows indoor farms to become more efficient and profitable through customized workflow management tools, inventory tracking, and pest and nutrient management. Before being acquired, Artemis had raised a total of $12.4M in venture capital.
I might've reported on these news before, but they're sort of important, so a little reminder probably doesn't hurt: The first ever CRISPR-edited food is now available for purchase. If you're in Japan, you can buy a Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato. It's been engineered to produce higher levels of Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), which evidence shows can help reduce high blood pressure, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Impossible Foods is launching its Impossible Pork product in the U.S., Hong Kong, and Singapore. The company has previously launched plant-based burgers, sausages, and chicken nuggets, and is working on plant-based whole cuts.
Germany-based FoodTech startup air up has closed a €40M funding round, led by Five Seasons Ventures. The company has developed a bottle which essentially releases scented air, providing unique taste sensations to the person drinking water from that bottle (the function can be deactivated using a sliding mechanism on the bottle). Since launching in mid-2019, air up claims to have had revenues in excess of €100M, and having saved thousands of tons of sugar, thus improving consumer health.
Image: air up bottle
California startup New Age Meats has scored $25M in Series A funding; the company develops cultivated meat -- and first up are pork sausages. New Age Meats will use the funding to double its team, expand R&D, and build a 20,000 sq. ft (2,000 sq. m) pilot production facility in California. The company says it hopes to begin production next year.
Precision livestock company Vytelle of Kansas City, Missouri has secured $13.2M in Series A funding. The startup offers livestock producers a faster and more precise way to identify cattle with superior genetics in terms of feed efficiency, fertility, and health. This means that livestock producers can accelerate the process of improving single traits in a herd of animals from 10+ years to just a few years.
Last week, I mentioned the long read in The Counter questioning the viability of cultivated meat. Here's a good rebuttal by George Peppou, the Founder and CEO of Vow. GFI has also published a statement which is worth reading.
A new government-backed project in Denmark will upcycle surplus, unsold bread from COOP supermarkets into cereal bars, pasta crackers, and similar products. A machine will sort the bread by type, scan for mould and bacterial and then turn the bread into crumbs, enabling it to be repurposed. The Danish government believes about 90% of surplus bread could eventually be upcycled.
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Gelatex (Estonia) is hiring a Business Development Manager, Senior Scientist, Chemical Technologist, and a Mechanical Engineer, Stockeld Dreamery (Sweden) is recruiting a Senior Brand Manager, FoodHack (Switzerland) has three open positions, Finless Foods (US) is looking for a Director of Bioprocess Development, Oatlaws (Sweden) is hiring a Senior Manager of Product Development, New Culture (US) has an open role as HR Manager, Karma (Sweden) has a bunch of job openings, IRRIOT (Sweden) is hiring an Irrigation Sales Manager (to be based in Europe), QOA (Germany) is recruiting for several positions, WWF-US is recruiting a Director, Agricultural and Environmental Metrics, and Milken Institute (US) is hiring someone to work on Food as Medicine.
Thought For Food Summit, the 'SXSW of Food and Ag', takes place on Oct 2, 2021. Register for free here.
The Radicle Carbon and Soil Challenge by UPL is open to applications until mid-October. The Challenge offers an investment of $1M to the best idea regarding the sequestration and abatement of carbon and soil health, with $250K for the second-best proposal. Read more.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
A man in the U.K. has found the perfect workaround for the petrol crisis (sound on).
U.S. labor productivity has increased 16x in agriculture since 1947. In construction? Zero.
Source: The Economist
New Delhi is replacing ambulance sirens with traditional flute music. [They should get this guy]
Someone sculptured a Godzilla out of a grain of rice. This guy isn't impressed.
A Guinness World Record was just broken for the world's longest cereal box dominoes. Pretty impressive.
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Sweet Child O'Mine by Melonia. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter. And here's The Appetizer podcast which I co-host. Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.