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FoodTech Weekly #75 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
November 12, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #75
Hi there,
A few weeks ago I mentioned Lauri Reuter's TV show 'Would You Eat This?' (airing now on networks in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland). *Spoiler alert*: If you still haven't watched it, there's an epic twist in the first episode. And I need to tell you all about it, because it's so absurd, yet lovely. In the cab ride before their next meeting, Lauri asks his show co-host Henri Alén (who also happens to be one of the superstar chefs of Finland) whether there's anything he wouldn't eat or taste. Henri says no.
Fast forward a few minutes, and they're eating lab-grown meat made in a DYI home lab. And then Lauri breaks the news to Henri: "Some time ago, I sent my own cells here."
Henri: "No!"
Lauri:"Yes! Do you know what we're cooking next? Lauri."
Henri:"No! That goes against my ethical principles."
Lauri:"Is that your limit?"
Henri:"Yeah, not humans."
Lauri:"But I didn't suffer."
Henri:"Whatever. I would never eat you."
Lauri:"I can taste [myself then]."
Henri:"I'll cook you up."
Lauri:"You will cook me up?"
Henri:"Yes, but I will not eat you."
Lauri:"It's a deal."
Image: SVT
Beyond that we found out that there indeed are things that top chef Henri Alén wouldn't eat, I think Lauri really puts his finger on some profound ethical aspects around our diets. Why do we eat some animals, but not others? And will there be a future where cultivated human meat is eaten?
This week's rundown:
Investing in reducing food waste: Matsmart/Motatos raise €24M, TreeDots $11M, and FloWaste €1M, in global efforts to combat food waste
Twiga banks $50M: The Kenyan company connects farmers, FMCG/CPG manufacturers, and vendors
Llama drama: Eight camels and a drama escape circus; roam streets of Madrid
Let's go!
Conversations
Yeah, I've had a bunch of interesting conversations that I still need to summarize and share with you. Have patience.
Noteworthy
Swedish online food discounter Matsmart/Motatos announced a €24M raise led by London-based growth-stage firm Blume Equity (full disclosure: I'm an advisor to Blume). Matsmart buys food with e.g. short expiry dates and sells it at a 40-70% discount. The company is present in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Germany, and is eyeing the U.K. market. Also this week, U.S. food waste startup FloWaste banked €1M in fresh funding from Underdog labs and Rockstart. FloWaste uses image recognition tech to enable foodservice providers to automatically reduce food waste, e.g. by optimizing meal preparation, ingredient combinations, and portion sizes. The new funding will be used to expand to 100+ locations across the U.S. Finally, over in Singapore, online marketplace TreeDots raised a $11M Series A round; the company helps suppliers and distributors to sell surplus and imperfect food items shunned by bulk buyers like retailers, to restaurants, cafes and hotels.
Alternative protein startup AKUA has reeled in $3.2M in a round red by Vibrant Ventures; the company uses kelp to develop e.g. burgers and jerky.
Twiga of Kenya has closed a $50M Series C round, led by Paris/Nairobi family office Creadev (bringing its total debt and equity funding to over $100M). The company originally connected smallholder farmers with vendors via an app; today it's a broader B2B e-commerce food distribution platform, connecting FMCG/CPG manufacturers with 10,000+ retailers in Kenya (many of them informal vendors). Twiga tallies more than 1,000 employees and will expand. to Uganda and Tanzania before the end of the year.
Image: Twiga
U.S. startup Robigo has banked $1.15M in pre-seed funding, to continue the development of what the company calls 'a sustainable living pesticide' that protects crops from various plant diseases. The company takes good bacteria naturally prevent in plants and soil, bioengineer these bacteria, and reintroduce them into their natural habitat via crop spraying. Unlike conventional herbicides that may kill every microbe in the plant and soil, including the beneficial ones, Robigo's biopesticides target nothing but the actual problem. Between 20-40% of crops worldwide are lost to pests each year, costing the global economy about $220B.
Scottish biotech company Roslin Technologies has been awardeda £1M grant from government innovation support body UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) to further develop and commercialize the company's stem cell lines for pig, cattle, and sheep, that help food companies produce cultivated meat. Roslin's cell lines can replicate indefinitely and without deteriorating, making them suitable for large-scale, efficient production.
DSM has announced it will commence large-scale production in Scotland of Bovaer, its synthetic feed additive which can reduce enteric methane emissions by 30%. Bovaer was recently approved for use in Brazil and Chile, the first market authorizations for the feed additive.
Entocycle of the U.K., which grows insects-as-animal-feed, is raising a £22M Series A round to partly help finance a large-scale farm in Scotland, which will sell insects to feed manufacturers. The new facility will produce 2,200 tons per year, generating £5.5M of revenue. Entocycle already has commitments of sales of 150% of its future production capacity. More in this Sifted piece.
The conversation on the feasibility of cultivated meat continues -- if you care about this topic, don't miss this long-read in Green Queen: "Is anyone right about the future of cultivated meat? Does it matter?
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Oceanium (Scotland) is hiring a Food Scientist... Eatable Adventures (Spain) is recruiting a Content Manager... Grönska (Sweden) is looking for a Senior Business Developer... Aqua-Spark (The Netherlands) is filling a role of HR Officer... WeFarm (UK/remote) has a number of open roles... Hoxton Farms(UK) is recruiting a Bioprocess Technician... Volta Greentech (Sweden) is hiring a Process Design Engineer... Bettafish (Germany/remote) has a ton of open positions... Hooked (Sweden) is looking to bring on a Digital Marketing Specialist... Evo Foods (India) is hiring a People Specialist.
Márcio Alexandre Alberti is an Italian-Brazilian agronomist from Rio de Janeiro interested in urban and peri-urban agriculture. He, like many, thinks of cities as the new agricultural frontiers and would like to contribute with a more scientific perspective to the sustainable development of urban farming. Márcio is collecting data using a questionnaire (33 questions, 20 min in total) which aims to inform the use of indicators that can contribute to the development of a more sustainable agriculture in, on and around cities. So please take the survey -- it's for science! For any questions, Márcio can be reached via email.
Michel Aerts is a French scientific consultant in the water technologies space. He has developed a concept for a new technology vortex and electromagnetic field for re-structuring water to stimulate drastically faster plant growth. He’s interested in connecting with e.g. greenhouse operators, vertical farming companies, pharmaceutical cannabis companies, and AgTech investors. For more information please email him to receive a project presentation, and for an opportunity to meet and discuss this topic.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
Eight camels -- and a llama -- escaped a circus to wander the streets of Madrid. Guess I'm not the only one with a late-night craving for tapas.
Image: Quartz
Enteric fermentation from ruminants is the #1 emitter of methane emissions globally (although reducing emissions from fossil fuel operations is probably easier to fix). More interesting takeaways in this McKinsey write-up.
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Far Too Good by John Smith. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter. And here's the Appetizer which I co-host. Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.