- FoodTech Weekly
- Posts
- FoodTech Weekly #99 by Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #99 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
May 20, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #99
Hi there,
A week after FoodHack Summit 2022 I'm still processing the impressions. There was so much joy, passion, and community. Such good energy, and such a good mix of startups, scaleups, corporates, investors, and ecosystem builders from all over the world.
Some reflections:
There were a lot of opportunities to meet high-caliber people. And people loved to network (so much that it was challenging to get folks to listen to many of the keynotes and fireside chats). After years of Zoom fatigue, nothing beats a high-vibe in-person event
The alternative protein products keep getting better (some are very impressive in terms of texture and look-and-feel) but still need to nail taste and nutrition. Having that said, some pretty exciting products were exhibited at the Summit, from fishless tuna sandwiches and bee-free honey, to bratwurst made from mycelium, wheat-based bacon, 'pulled pork', and sunflower seed shawarma
Lots of curiosity around regen ag, soil health, and carbon farming. Will enough entrepreneurs step up to build the necessary solutions?
Will functional foods finally get their big break? Björn Öste (Oatly) spoke about Good Idea Drinks' sparkling water with amino acids that (clinically proven) can balance the blood sugar; I can see this and other functional food products taking off
The FoodHack Syndicate was announced; can this and similar new platforms help democratize and facilitate investments into early-stage FoodTech and AgTech startups that merit investment?
While the U.S. and Israeli FoodTech ecosystems (rightly) have received lots of attention, the European FoodTech ecosystem is thriving, and growing
Some mixed photos from the 2022 FoodHack Summit
Overwhelmed by negative news? Despite the big and dark headlines, there are a lot of positive things going on in the world. Every weekWarp Newssends out a free newsletter with fact-based optimistic news on technology, science and human progress. I'm a big fan. Sign up here.
---
A correction: Last week I mentioned how Swiss-Ghanaian companyKOA nabbed $10M in Series A funding to upcycle cocoa pulp (currently considered waste in the industry) into useful products. But I accidentally called themQOA. That's another startup in the industry. Apologies for the confusion.
---
This week's rundown:
Imagindairy of Israel expands Seed round to record-breaking $28M
Vestaron was just foie gras'd $82M to bring biological alternatives to pesticides to market
Impossible Foods launches first products in Europe -- but without 'heme', the magic ingredient
Let's do this.
Conversations
Hope to be back with an interesting convo next week :)
Noteworthy
Israeli FoodTech startup Imagindairy, which creates animal-free dairy proteins using precision fermentation, banked an additional $15M in its extended Seed round. The funding comes on top of the initial $13M Seed round which was closed in November 2021, bringing its total Seed sum raised to $28M, one of the highest Seed rounds in the alternative protein space. The Seed extension was led by Target Global and joined by Strauss Group, Emerald Technology Ventures, Green Circle FoodTech Ventures, Collaborative Fund, New Climate Ventures and FoodSparks.
Image credit: Imagindairy / Yaniv Koppel
Dutch plant-based cheese startup Willicroft has announced a €2M round; key investors included Rockstart, PINC, Döhler, and Feast Ventures. The company now plans to expand to the U.K., Germany, and the Nordics, and expand its team.
U.S. biotech startup Vestaron has secured $82M in its Series C round. The company develops biological alternatives to chemical pesticides - namely peptides. Vestaron's peptides protect crops from insects, but are generally harmless to the surrounding environment, other wildlife, and humans. Conventional chemical pesticides can contaminate the environment, and many pests have built up resistance to these chemicals.
Agricultural drones are increasingly used in Vietnam to help with e.g. direct seeding, pesticide spraying, and fertilizer application; 'drone pilot' is now a popular profession among rural youth.
The largest vertical farm in the U.K. has been given the green light. One.Farmwill work with IGS to build a facility in Newmarket, Suffolk County, that could produce 400 tons of food (and eventually 1,000 tons) annually. The farm will be operational in 2023.
Plant-based bacon and eggs? Bosque Foods of Germany just announced a $3M Seed round, which will help the company develop mycelium-based alt meats such as bacon. Investors in the round included FoodLabs, Happiness Capital, SOSV, and Blue Horizon, plus FoodHack founder Arman Anatürk and Tier co-founder Lawreence Leuschner. Meanwhile, Israel-based Yo-Egg, which develops realistic plant-based eggs, closed a $5M Seed round led by Stray Dog Capital and NFX. The startups aims to produce 50,000 plant-based eggs per day.
Image: Yo-Egg
Chinese cultivated meat startup Cell-X has landed a $10.6M Series A round, supported by Joyvio Capital, SALT, Lever VC, Better Bite Ventures, and Agronomics. Based in Shanghai, Cell-X is developing cell-cultivated beef, pork, and chicken.
Can food delivery apps be used to nudge people towards greener diets? A new academic paper believes that when used right, nudging can help consumers make food choices that reduce emissions by up to 76%.
Impossible Foods has launched in Europe for the first time, debuting its chicken nuggets and sausage patties in the U.K. However, these products do not contain the key ingredient 'heme' (soy leghemoglobin) used in the Impossible Burger and other key Impossible products.
European countries have substantially cut the use of antimicrobials in animals, according to a recent report. Between 2011-2020, overall sales of veterinary antimicrobials fell by 43%. However, a couple of the 25 countries surveyed increased the sales of veterinary antimicrobials during the last decade, including e.g. Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, and Slovakia.
Netherlands-based AgTech investment firm Anterra Capital has closed a new $260M Fund; it will invest in e.g. ag fintech, crop science, animal health, and consumer tech. Meanwhile in Singapore, alternative protein early-stage VC Good Startup announced it has closed the Good Protein Fund I, at $34M. Finally, AXA, Unilever, and Tikehau Capital have launched a €300M private equity impact fund aimed at accelerating the regenerative agriculture transition.
American scientists have, for the first time, grown plants in moon soil - from samples of dust collected during the 1969-1972 Apollo missions. The researchers hope their findings will help future astronauts to better live and operate on e.g. the Moon and Mars, as well as in space.
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Aqua Cultured Food (US) is looking is a Senior Scientist... vly (Germany) is recruiting a Head of Ecommerce... Simple Feast (Denmark) is hiring an Account Manager... Helaina (USA) has a number of open roles, both science and non-science... Fermify (Austria) wants to bring on a Bioprocess Digitalization Engineer
Techstars are launching their first Nordic/Baltic program and will accept 12 startups into the cohort. All selected companies receive about $120K in investment, and access to a global network of startups, mentors, and investors
The Future Food Asia conference is back for the sixth time, with a strong line-up of the most innovative early-stage start-ups from Asia-Pacific, vying for the $100k Future Food Asia Award. With two days of in-person conference (June 7-8) and one day dedicated to China (June 9), the event is a must-have in your agenda to understand emerging trends & specificities of Asia. More info and registration here
Global Entrepreneurship Centre has launched a Food Innovation Call: 'Feeding the World in a Sustainable, Healthy, and Resilient Manner.' FoodTech founders ready to take their start-up to the next scaling phase tackling the current food system with sustainable solutions, are welcome to submit solutions in the areas of Alternative Protein Supporting Technologies, Fermentation-based Solutions, Functional Nutrition, and Food Self-Sufficiency. More info here on the GEC Food Innovation Call. Applications close June 9, 2022
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
Paul Graham's 13 tips on founding a startup are pretty helpful, for anyone in the midst of their career
Dutch scientists say they've found that 3D printed spiral shaped candies, like chocolate, give the ideal eating experience (video here)
Image: YouTube screenshot
A customer in Florence, Italy got so upset from being charged €2 for a cup of espresso (instead of the industry average of €1) that he called the police. The coffee bar was fined €1,000 for not having displayed the price on a menu behind the counter
Cheese wheel turning robot (video, 37 secs)
360 degree video (90 secs) of the never-setting Arctic midnight sun
An elderly couple in India have sued their son and daughter-in-law, demanding that they produce a child within a year or pay a compensation of 50M rupees (equivalent to about $646,000). Says the couple: 'My son has been married for six years but they are still not planning a baby. At least if we have a grandchild to spend time with, our pain will become bearable.'
I love you.
Daniel
- - -
This issue was produced while listening to Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. 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.