A brave new world: exploring how the Internet of Things (IoT) can help the food industry

The Internet of Things, also known as the IoT for short, is something you may have heard of, but not fully explored. Beyond the kind of appliances you’d find in a modern kitchen, the food industry is getting on board with the IoT in almost every area of the industry - from farming to restaurant management to food waste prevention.

A look into all current, future, and potential FoodTech IPO's & SPACs and how they work. It has been a wild ride for companies going public this year. In addition to the “traditional” IPO route (like Oatly or Deliveroo), we’ve now seen hundreds of companies go public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC).

Food tech Motif FoodWorks secured $226M series B funding to invest in accelerating its mission of solving sensory and nutritional challenges with existing plant-based foods, including meat and dairy analogues, which will be key to continue growing consumer acceptance. Underground Cellar raised $12.5M series A funding for its “gamified wine upgrade” service. Instead of discounting its wines, it offers customers the chance for free upgrades, to randomly-selected more expensive options.

There’s a reason why whole cut meat substitutes are a far less common sight than veggie burgers and mince: making full cuts of meat is a whole lot trickier. Whole cuts of conventional meat have a unique texture, mouthfeel and taste, thanks to the complex interplay of muscle, fat, blood vessels and connective tissue. It’s a great deal easier to recreate a burger, which has already undergone processing. 

No sector has inspired as much interest lately as the grocery delivery (eGrocery) category. Massive valuations, huge investment rounds, and a parade of new entrants flooding cities with a rainbow of delivery uniforms (and slamming my inbox with “here’s €10 off your first order!” promotions). 

German grocery delivery startup Flink, which promises to deliver items in under 10 minutes, raised $240M last week, just six months after inception. It is currently active in 24 cities across Germany and will use the funding to further expand its operations. SIMULATE, the firm behind the distinctive NUGGS plant-based chicken brand, raised $50M series B funding to triple its team, speed up its R&D, scale up its manufacturing and expand internationally.

Cargill CEO Dave MacLennan has said that he expects plant-based proteins will cannibalise its meat protein business, as the firm’s analysis shows that plant-based proteins will be at 10% market share within three to four years. And a new report by Credit Suisse forecasts that global plant-based food sales will be 100 times larger than present by 2050, climbing from $14B to $1.4T within 30 years‍

Coca-Cola’s share price took a $4 billion nose dive after footballer Cristiano Ronaldo removed two of the Euro 2020’s sponsor’s bottles during a press conference, appearing to encourage viewers to drink water instead. The incident has already become a popular meme, with a number of food companies jumping in on the trend with their own product placement.

Food tech entrepreneurs have been busy hatching a plant-based version of one of the most key animal proteins in the world: eggs! Here's a look into 20+ of the leading companies in this space.

Accelerators are here to help companies grow fast and smart. Through a combination of expert guidance, direct investment, and introduction to investors and partners, accelerator programs might just be the right thing for your business. This week, we’re highlighting a few of the leading accelerators actively supporting foodtech companies, the benefits of attending an accelerator, the potential reasons why not to attend.

Indian food delivery app/logistics platform Delhivery raised $277M in preparation for an IPO due to take place next year. It claims to have fulfilled over 800 million orders since it was established in 2011 and claims to be “largest independent” B2C logistics provider in the country. Athletic Brewing secured $50M series C funding to construct its third non-alcoholic beer brewery, supporting its planned East Coast US expansion.‍

You're an early-stage startup founder, currently raising a round, but have limited experience in interacting with venture capital investors (VCs)? This is for you. The VC world can often be opaque with a lack of insight into how VCs work and think. To clear some things up, and help first-time founders raise smart capital, here's some insights into the mind of a venture capitalist - from our friends at Start Life.

This Week In Food: Forbes launched its first ever 50 over 50 list, featuring a diverse group of female leaders who have changed the world after the age of 50. The list highlights vegan entrepreneur Miyoko Schinner of Miyoko’s Creamery, alongside Lisa Feria of food tech VC Stray Dog Capital and Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris.

Fava beans have plenty of nutritional benefits that make them a great choice for use in vegan meats and protein-rich snack foods and help when over health-conscious consumers. Plant-based meats have on occasion been criticised for their lack of nutritional goodness, and makers are therefore hunting for something with a more wholesome profile. Enter fava.

With a massive rise in investment from Corporate venture capital (CVCs) into FoodTech startups, this week we’re zooming in on the Corporate VC activity across the industry: why it’s increasing, who’s active, and what it all means for FoodTech founders.

NYC-based vertical farming firm Bowery raised $300M series C funding. It currently operates two vertical farming facilities, and plans to break ground on additional locations this year. Find out more about urban agriculture and Bowery’s ‘untouched by humans’ approach to produce. Invaio Sciences raised $88.9M series C funding, bringing its total to $142M since it was founded in 2018. It is focused on accelerating the transition to biological agriculture, reducing the use of pesticides and increasing carbon capture to improve the health of crop production.

This Week In Food: A major update on Amendment 171, The biggest ever vertical farming funding round, World's first commercialization of microalgae meat, And is Nestle entering the cell-based infant milk space?

The EIT Global Food Venture Programme (GFVP) helps 20 highly qualified PhD students across Europe to turn their innovative research into viable business ideas in the food & agtech space. The pre-incubation bootcamp lifts off in June, where successful applicants will learn all about how to turn their initial idea into a viable business. This is followed by 6 months of tailored mentoring, our business bootcamp in September with industry experts and international top-notch trainers, ending in a final competition event with cash prizes for winners.

The last leg of the delivery process is famously the most expensive and the most inefficient for retailers. In fact, last-mile costs typically account for over half of the overall cost of shipping. Then there’s inefficiencies like traffic and making several stops with low drop sizes to grapple with. That’s why the last-mile delivery sector is ripe for disruption - and many entrepreneurs have been taking on the challenge, launching a host of delivery platforms that offer new ways to tackle this age-old problem.

Big ideas need big money. And in 2021, the ideas and the capital are roaring like never before. Whether it’s risk-loving VC firms looking to get an early piece of the next Oatly (hello, $12B), more traditional investment banks out for solid returns, or Corporate VCs hoping not to get left behind, foodtech founders have more financing available to them than ever before. Here, we’re taking a high-level look at the state of VC in foodtech: why it’s booming, who’s active, and what’s next. Today, we’re focusing on specialty VCs (investors specifically focused on food system innovation) and traditional VCs (other tech accelerators and investors).

Chinese produce platform Dingdong Maicai raised $1.03B series D funding. The e-commerce platform sources fresh fruits and vegetables from farmers and agribusinesses and delivers them directly to consumers, who can place orders via a mobile app. Eat Just, Inc. secured $170M to scale up its cell-based meat subsidiary, Good Meat. Its latest funds will be used to accelerate R&D and increase capacity of its cell-cultured meat products, and the raise comes at the same time as the announcement that its cultivated chicken bites will be sold in the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach’s Cantonese restaurant, reflecting growing corporate and consumer interest in cell-based meat.

It’s been a big week in foodtech and we don’t say that often. (Okay, we kind of do) but this week has been special: Oatly IPO'd yesterday opening at a $10B valuation. Who's next? Chobani?‍

Oatly was first founded way back in 1994 by brothers Rickard Öste and Björn Öste. Back then, the oat brand was fighting to create a market that didn't exist. But in 2021, it is now the second most-popular oat milk brand in the US, and is undergoing a major global expansion after a star-studded funding round.

Last year, Marco Snikkers knew that his startup, OneThird, had developed a solution that could save producers, distributors and retailers money while tackling the global problem of food waste. But he needed access to funding to accelerate its growth. In April this year - only eleven months after meeting investors SHIFT Invest at F&A Next 2020 - the Dutch food tech company has raised 1.5 million euros to boost the development of their fresh produce quality prediction platform. 

We’ve all been there: the bowl of chips in front of us just keeps dwindling. Too salty, too more-ish, too delicious... The simple fact of the matter is this: salt makes stuff taste good. Like really good. Part of this is simply evolutionary. Human bodies need salt for survival, and the two elements that make it up - sodium and chloride - are difficult to find in nature. It also makes food taste more like itself, to quote salt-loving chef Samin Nosrat. Good ol’ NaCl enhances positive flavours in food, like umami and sweet, and helps to lessen bitter tastes. So there’s more than one reason why we can’t get enough of the stuff..

With more shoppers likely to stick around online post-pandemic, both CPG startups and big brands alike are expanding into distribution models that bypass the grocery store altogether. Today, we’re taking a look at the DTC activity from startups and corporates getting their goods out without grocery, as well as e-grocery businesses bypassing brick-and-mortar altogether. Sorry Kroger.

Investment firm Agronomics Limited raised £60M+ to fund the extension of its portfolio of cellular agriculture investments, which already include big players such as BlueNalu and Formo. Delivery-only kitchen pioneer All Day Kitchens secured $20M series B funding to support the launch of its Chicago facility, which will be partnered with a mix of local and independently owned restaurants.

Each year, the team behind F&A Next – a platform dedicated to connecting up-and-coming food and agriculture startups with investors and corporates – presents their pick of startups working on the hottest trends in the sector: the ‘Next Heroes in Food and AgTech’. This year’s choices are beavering away at solutions to the biggest questions in food and agriculture – from food waste and cultivated formula, to biodegradable packaging, remote sensing and more. They’ll showcase their plans at F&A Next’s virtual summit on May 26. 

A lot goes into picking a name for your business. Maybe even more so true for a foodtech business, where companies are working on something that will eventually end up being consumed by a human and are often under the scrutiny of consumers, regulators, retailers and more. A good name in foodtech therefore needs to encompass quite a bit if you're going to make it in the big leagues.

According to new research published in the journal Foods, cell-cultured meat is likely to constitute 40% of future meat consumption, and the younger generations are especially open to accepting it as the new normal. The European Food Safety Authority has found that titanium dioxide, a food colouring used to whiten foods, can no longer be considered safe as a food additive.

Delicious sweet honey, no bees required? A cold glass of milk with a chocolate chip cookie, without the involvement of a cow or a cacao tree? Welcome to the brave new world of synthetic biology. So what is it? Food produced via synthetic biology (or SynBio as the cool kids call it) is, in a nutshell, a form of genetic engineering that sees life created from nothing, generally in a laboratory setting. 

Big Food is going all-in on the plant-based category, including many of the world’s biggest meat producers. Some are buying up or investing in startups or established plant-based brands, while others are trying to make it on their own with CPG ranges developed in-house. From Tyson’s tumultuous experience with its Raised & Rooted range to JBS’s €341M Vivera acquisition, we’re taking a look at Big Food's newly found love affair with plants.

This Week In Food: 10 new FoodTech funding rounds, Our database of 70+ algae startups, Nestle's new pea-based milk brand, The legendary Michelin restaurant gone vegan, Impossible Foods big win in court, Dubai's new Food Technology Valley‍

Personalised nutrition app Zoe closed out its Series B funding at $53M for its home testing kit which enables users to learn how their body responds to different foods and access tailored nutritional advice. Big Idea Ventures has hit the $50M final close of its new alternative protein fund, with oversubscribed commitment from new investor.

Algae, one of the world’s first organisms, may be changing the world all over again. In our 2021 trends predictions, one contributor forecasted that “2021 is the year of the Seaweed revolution! Mark my words!” and we might have to agree.These tiny aquatic organisms have been making big waves in the FoodTech scene lately, as startups, scientists, and multinationals like Nestlé, ADM and Bühler go all-in on algae.

A fully contactless dining experience, robotic waiters and pot washers, digital menus: tech is coming to a restaurant near you (and probably already has done). Tech has been a part of the restaurant industry, especially larger chains, for some time, but many have been cautious in adopting the latest innovations. That’s probably not surprising given how difficult it is to run a profitable joint. But the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many to adapt quickly to digital tech – let’s explore which innovations might outlive the pandemic that accelerated them.

French dark kitchen startup Taster raised $37M and is on a mission to become ‘bigger than McDonald’s’. Its next step to expand its ‘delivery-only’ food brands operation is a franchise model, so watch this space. Chinese drone maker EAVision closed a $30M series C funding round. Its drones use a combination of AI-driven computer vision and sensor tech to navigate more geographically challenging agricultural settings – in particular, hillsides.

Agrifoodtech companies raised $22.3B in 2020, marking a CAGR of 50% during the last decade. According to data by Finistere Ventures and PitchBook Data, 2020 brought in a third of the amount raised by food tech in the last decade, and meal kits, delivery startups and e-commerce saw the largest proportion of funds.🥫Some big food firms such as P&G and Coca-Cola are planning to raise prices on their products to combat rising commodity costs, following a year of surging demand, but they’re savvy about doing it in ways which are harder to notice.

Raising during the pandemic may seem daunting for startups, but it’s certainly not impossible. If you need some inspiration, check out the Danish agritech startup Råhandel The agrifood startup has raised a €1.4m seed round during lockdown in 2020. They are a Rockstart AgriFood portfolio company, which is how they met some of the investors who changed the game for them.

Food waste is a hot topic. According to the 2021 Food Waste Index published by the United Nations Environment Programme, 931 million tonnes of food sold in 2019 was wasted. That amounts to 17% of all food available at consumer level, enough to line up and circle the planet seven times over. Colour me horrified. Plus, with the world’s population expected to reach ten billion by 2050, food waste is likely to increase if something doesn’t change, and fast.

Despite the growth in plant-based meat substitutes, most would agree that few products currently on the market are a truly perfect replacement for the genuine article. Many of the fat replacements routinely added to plant-based meats and dairy to simulate the taste and mouthfeel of animal fat are high in unhealthy saturated fats. These can have a greasy feel and a tendency to leak out of the product when cooked, compromising the flavour.

Public: SPAC listings are providing food companies with a cheaper and quicker avenue for going public than ever before and offering an alternative to the traditional route of getting acquired by a publicly traded conglomerate (which pays much less). Aside from Oatly, at least four more companies – Flow Water, AeroFarms, Stryve and AF Acquisition Corp – are planning offerings this year. And according to insiders, both Infarm and Impossible Foods are rumoured to go public with billion dollar plus valuations.

Online grocery delivery service Misfits Market hit unicorn status following a $200M series C funding round. It works with farmers, ranchers, meat producers and suppliers to reduce waste by rescuing extra cuts of meat or food items that don’t have a designated store, and provides them to consumers at up to 40% off grocery store prices. Belgian foodtech Deliverect raised $65M series C funding. It provides software to restaurants to organise their online orders, allowing them to integrate incoming orders from different delivery companies into a single system, improving efficiencies.

There’s no doubt about it: food is having its moment in the limelight on TikTok. Whether it was lockdown banana bread or the #dalgonacoffee sensation, a year at home with only screens and our kitchens for company led many users to discover the love of home cooking and food hacks - a trend that canny restaurants and CPG brands have capitalised on. TikTok is one of the world’s fastest-growing social media channels, providing a less ‘curated’ alternative to Instagram, and allows users to make snappy videos set to music that must come in at under 60 seconds. 

Mushrooms are the talk of the foodtech world these days. You’d be hard pressed to go a week without seeing the words ‘fungi’ or ‘mycelium’ on your feed from some future foodtech investor or self-declared expert. But what and who is driving the growth in this space? And are chestnut mushrooms really the same as portobellos? (spoiler: Yes, just smaller)

Food is Gen Z’s top spending priority, taking a 23% share of their wallet, according to a report by Piper Sandler. The youngsters are also leaning heavily towards healthier eating, with 54% preferring healthy snacks and 49% already consuming or willing to try plant-based meat. & A recent report revealed that not all food categories have post-pandemic staying power. Experts at Numerator launched a COVID-19 Buyer Habit Index which compares repeat purchase behaviour. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, wine is ‘sticky’, i.e. very likely to be repurchased!

Southeast Asian super-app Grab has closed a $4B private investment in public equity deal as part of its agreement to merge with NASDAQ-listed SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp. The deal will allow Grab to become a publicly-traded company at a valuation of approximately $39.6B. Hazel Technologies secured $70M series C funding for its food-waste fighting technology which extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Its packaging insert is designed to inhibit ethylene, which plants produce as they age, preserving the fresh produce.

With FoodTech startups taking up a larger chunk of accelerator interest each year - we decided to take a closer look at 6 accelerators / incubators and their FoodTech cohorts to see if we could spot any patterns.

As the shift towards alternative products accelerates, flavour and aroma companies are reaching new heights in their quest to develop the most enticing flavours, aromas and textures for use in food products. This is particularly true of plant-based proteins, which are driving innovative developments in flavours and texture. But it’s not just alt meats: companies are using similar processes to reduce sugar and salt in food, without compromising on taste or texture. AI-assisted flavour development is also being used to make alternative products as tasty as possible by identifying the best flavours or additives to mimic ‘the real thing’.‍‍

The Secret Sauce: Meet Ross, Co-founder & CEO of Daring Foods- from athletic meat eater to entrepreneurial plant-based entrepreneur. Discover how Scottish entrepreneur Ross Mackay, Co-Founder and CEO of Daring Foods is working to remove chicken from our food system with plant-based alternatives. In the podcast: Early upbringing & ventures, entrepreneurship in the US vs Europe, mentality of a CEO, life of a hyper-growth

Indian food delivery app Swiggy raised $800M series J funding and hit a $5B valuation. It diversified from restaurant delivery into grocery delivery through the pandemic, and launched its dark store-based platform, Instamart, offering 45-minute delivery of fresh groceries.Retail analytics firm Trax secured $640M series E funding at a valuation of $2 billion. Its AI-powered retail cloud platform features image recognition technology that turns shelf images in stores into real-time actionable insights.

New SPINS data released by the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association reveals that plant-based food retail sales were worth $7B in 2020, marking a 27% growth year-on-year. Plus, according to a new report by Paris-based food tech insight consultancy DigitalFoodLab, the European food tech industry raised €2.7 billion in 2020, maintaining the figure raised in 2019 in spite of the pandemic, driven in the main by the triple-digit growth in the alternative protein sector.

Discover 3 of their alumni that are working on solutions for indoor and vertical farmers, data-driven fermentation management and the 'The Uber of dairy farms"/

Chinese e-grocer Nice Tuan raised $750M for its community-buying platform, which allows consumers to form groups via its WeChat mini-program and collectively purchase farm produce and groceries in bulk at a competitive price. Livekindly Collective secured $335M, bringing its total funding raised in its first year to $535M and making it one of the top three highest-funded plant-based firms globally. It will use the funds to accelerate its expansion into growth geographies, including the United States and China, and fuel its acquisitions, key partnerships and investments in plant-based innovation.

Ever been chatting to friends or colleagues about the latest FoodTech news and just felt out of your depth? This guide of 40+ commonly used FoodTech terms and words will help.

As a new food entrepreneur, starting a business from your own kitchen might seem like a good idea at first - a way to keep costs low and maximise efficiency. But many food startups quickly realise that this is not feasible due to lack of space, equipment, an inability to keep up as the company grows and to meet licensing, hygiene and certification requirements. 

GoPuff raised $1.5B (yes, you read that right) to further expand its sub-30 minutes delivery service. It currently operates more than 250 micro-fulfillment centers, nestled within residential areas to provide delivery 24/7. Berlin-based on-demand grocery delivery service Gorillas secured $290M and became a unicorn, with a valuation that surpasses $1B. The startup offers a ‘dark store’ model, which allows it to fulfil customer orders in as little as ten minutes.

Last week, we interviewed Veronica Fil and Shaun Quade from Grounded Foods Co, a rising star in the plant-based cheese movement based in LA, about how they managed to protect their IP as they grew. They’ve entered the market with a range of plant-based cheeses that has generated a lot of interest, not only among consumers, but also among companies looking to gain a foothold in the plant-based protein market.

Lockdown restrictions and covid concerns meant shoppers got used to the convenience of at-home delivery, fuelling the stratospheric rise in demand in the e-grocery space.

AI use in food and drinks manufacturing has been heralded as the fourth great revolution in manufacturing. Shelve any preconceived notions you might hold of robots from outer space: AI (Artificial Intelligence) simply means the ability of a computer to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. Here's 33+ companies in this space and more about the opportunity of AI in the Agrifood industry.

US-based ethnic e-grocer Weee! secured $315M series D funding to accelerate its geographic expansion. Its offering includes fresh produce, meat and seafood alongside a range of ethnic ingredients used in Asian and Hispanic cuisines. Shelf Engine raised $41M series B financing for its intelligent forecasting and order automation technology designed to reduce grocery industry food waste.‍

Insects as protein. We’ve been tracking this for awhile now. Insects are a highly sustainable form of protein, but early insect-based snacks were mainly whole bugs, with all the legs and eyes and the potential to gross some consumers (me!) out. My personal tastes aside, the global insect protein market is projected to reach $1.3 billion by 2025, and even authorities are getting behind bugs as an alternative protein. In October the UK government earmarked $13M for industrial insect farming, and in January, The European Food Safety Authority okayed mealworms as suitable for human consumption.

Plant-based protein has become a hot topic in the food industry. Whether they’re driven by personal health concerns, or a desire for a more environmentally-conscious lifestyle, more and more consumers are showing interest in these products. Indeed, according to a report by Research and Markets, the global market for plant-based protein is forecast to grow in value from USD 10.3 bn in 2020 to USD 14.5 bn in 2025. While this is clearly a growth market that responds to larger cultural concerns, it’s also a lively field of innovation and product development in which businesses from multinationals to startups are creating new products.

From arepas to empanadas, guacamole to chimichurri, Latin America is a region with a rich food history. As its vast population changes and the agri-food scene of Latin America’s many nations evolves, food businesses are responding to demographic changes and changing desires. Top trends include plant-based eating, alternative proteins, and a desire for more local foods that are sustainable and delicious.

Takeaway delivery app FoodHub is seeking to raise £100M in private equity funds to accelerate its global expansion plans, having increased its turnover from £3M to £30M since its inception in 2017. Vertical strawberry farming startup Oishii secured $50M series A funding to expand its flagship farm, build further strawberry farms in new markets and invest in R&D. The firm claims to have a proprietary approach to pollinating strawberries indoors using bees, inspired by traditional Japanese farming methods, making it able to bring high quality, fresh produce to consumers year-round.

We asked our network to nominate founders, leaders and innovators in the food tech space, and wow did you guys/girls come through! We were overwhelmed by the responses, introducing us to incredible women all over the world working on everything from cell-based meats to media outlets, microalgae drinks to upcycled beverages, functional foods to foodtech funding, and lots, lots more.This article is just scraping the surface of the female pioneers who are driving foodtech around the globe.

Sugar: everyone’s favourite unhealthy habit. Most of us can’t get enough of the sweet stuff, even though we know it ruins our teeth, expands our waistlines and contributes to diabetes and is now proven to be a risk factor for severe COVID-19 complications. As a result, consumers are keener than ever to swap sugar for healthier alternatives without compromising on taste and indulgence. Some startups investigating novel sugar substitutes are asking if, perhaps, we might be able to have our cake and eat it too...

In this week's funding news: Instacart raised $265M in fresh funding, pushing its valuation to a staggering $39B, more than double its $17.7B valuation in October 2020, when it raised its last financing. The on-demand grocery delivery platform’s growth has skyrocketed through the pandemic as consumer demand for grocery services surged. And GoodLeaf Farms raised $65M and is set to commence “an aggressive growth and expansion plan” for its network of vertical farms, to support the Canadian grocery store network, food service industry and consumers.

In this week's startup news: Urban farming operation Gotham Greens announced its plans to expand to the West Coast, with a 10-acre greenhouse in Solano County, California, in collaboration with University of California-Davis, increasing its number of potential customers without increasing its freight cost and impact. New frozen snack brand Snow Days’ concept of better-for-you comfort food is designed to make snacking more permissible and free consumers from that post-snack regret. Its first product, frozen pizza bites, are grain-free and organic, and contain vegetables and functional ingredients.

The other week I wrote about 3 foodtech related ideas that I think might have potential. I've since chatted with several people working on these and curated the ones that you need to know - plus added two bonus ideas at the bottom 👀 

Kimchi, sauerkraut, beer and miso - fermentation is nothing new. The ancient practice is an entirely natural process: microorganisms like yeast and bacteria convert starches and sugars into alcohol or acids, producing beneficial bacteria in the process. Now a raft of food tech companies are using microbes - a highly customised version of the same microbes that ferment traditional foods like cheese and yogurt - to produce alternative proteins and functional ingredients. These can then be used in plant-based products and as alternatives to egg and milk proteins.

Worldwide, the fast food industry generates annual revenue of over $570 billion. In the US, more than 50 million Americans eat at a casual dining restaurant every day. And in Europe, the fast-casual dining market is expected to hit revenues of $17 billion by 2024🍟But fast food is changing. And perhaps it’s no bad thing? In the past, fast food outlets got bad press for being an unhealthy choice, and offering the option to ‘supersize’, encouraging consumers to eat way more calories than they could burn. Now, plenty of healthier options are popping up.

In this week's funding news: Indian food delivery startup Zomato has raised a further $250M, just two months after closing a $660M series J financing round, and is now valued at $5.4B ahead of its IPO later this year. And Dutch cultivated meat startup Mosa Meat announced the third and final closing of its series B funding round at €69.6M, and plans to extend its current pilot production facility, develop an industrial-sized production line and commercialise its product for consumers.

Even if in-person events are on standstill - we’re still craving to keep our brains engaged and meet like-minded people across the globe through events. Check out our list of 15 upcoming foodtech events we think you should know about:

Vertical crops are more resilient to extreme weather, and indoor growing environments are easier to control than those in the field. Seeds used can be optimised for flavour instead of insect or weather resistance. Farmers can control the elements (literally: humidity, temperature and lighting) to optimise yield and shorten crop cycles in a way that is impossible in conventional agriculture.

Any ideas what the Youtuber Mr Beast, Mariah Carey and Food Network celebrity chef Guy Fieri have in common? The answer’s not exactly obvious, but all three (and many more) have recently launched their own virtual dining concepts - otherwise known as celebrity ghost kitchens or to some as ‘clout kitchens’.

This week’s Discovery was all about the bass… the plant-base that is! The majority of the line up was vegan and/or functional, illustrating the massive growth in both of these spaces as consumers become more considerate of their health. We saw chocolate pudding made from oats and gut-friendly granola, but here are your winners:

In this week's funding news: Little Leaf Farms closed a $90M debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast of America.; and private equity partnership One Rock Capital Partners is acquiring Nestlé Waters North America for approximately $4.3Bn, as Nestlé continues with plans to best position its brands for long-term profitable growth.

The Secret Sauce: with Sorosh Tavakoli, founder and CEO of Stockeld Dreamery. Sorosh is what every immigrant entrepreneur dreams of. Honestly, his story is what great scripts are made of. After having to leave his home country of Iran due to the Iran/Iraq war, Sorosh's family moved to a smallish town in Sweden. While at university, Sorosh decides he never wants to work for someone, and instead, whilst taking a shower he comes up with the idea for a disruptive media advertising company. His hunch is right - the business grows to 100 people across 8 cities and in 2014 he sells this business for an estimated $75M.

The coronavirus has challenged fine dining restaurants to adapt quickly to the swiftly changing F&B market as businesses have battled months of restrictions, shutdowns and limited custom. Before the pandemic began, gourmet gastronomy was a growing market - with over 14,000 Michelin-starred restaurants around the world and many more luxury dining establishments.

Future Food Tech Hubs - what makes a city or country an ideal place for food innovation, and where will the next hub emerge? In order to understand that - let's take a look at 3 countries who today stand out when it comes to food innovation and foodtech startup density.

I love to scheme ideas. And over the past two weeks, Sonalie of Green Queen Media and I have been hosting chats on Clubhouse where we've been brainstorming future food ideas with the audience. Here’s 3 ideas that came up which I think could have potential.

Applications for MassChallenge Accelerator and the Sustainable Food Systems Track are now OPEN! Startups who’ve taken part in MassChallenge have raised over $6.2Bn of funds, created 157,000 jobs, and most importantly, have created meaningful change worldwide. Be part of our global network for innovators who are working to solve massive challenges and apply for free today, by using the 100% discount code FOODHACK2021

In the run up to Valentine’s Day we’re surprised that Lovebird Cereal didn’t bag a top three spot on our Discovery board this week, but the competition was fierce. We had chickpea snacks and tonnes of plant-based meats, but here are your winners:

In this week's funding news: Sustainable E-Grocer Imperfect Foods has increased its recently announced series D funding to $110M, up from $95M, bringing its total funding to $229.1M. The firm ‘rescues’ surplus and ‘ugly’ groceries and food service inventory to resell them on its own online platform, helping to combat the world’s multi-billion food waste problem.

In last week's newsletter we covered some of the pro's of Corporates x Startups collaborating, so this week we feel it's only right to talk about some of the con's.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that plant-based diets are all the rage. Where once veganism (at least in western societies) was written off as a fad or something only tree huggers indulged in, avoiding animal products is now pretty mainstream. By 2025, for example, it’s thought that at least 14% of the world’s population is already vegan or vegetarian and that number is increasing fast. As the trend gathers pace, interest in alternative proteins and cell-based meat is growing rapidly.

February may be a cold, grey month, but our FoodHack Discovery board is full of top-notch products from startups all over the world to brighten up your day. This week we had plant-based eggs made from chickpeas, freshly-made plant-based baby food and an app for self-improvement, but here are your winners:

In this week's funding news: The world’s largest e-commerce platform for wine, Vivino, raised $155M in new funding after seeing 103% growth year on year in 2020. Its app gives Netfllix-style suggestions to consumers of wines to try, based on their preferences; and online grocer Good Eggs raised $100M new funding, bringing its total amount raised to $170M. The firm, which currently only operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, saw huge growth through 2020 and plans to use the funds to further expand its operations.

According to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), consumption of plant-based milk is slowly replacing consumption of dairy milk in the US. In 2020, 9% of Unilever's turnover was from ecommerce – although overall turnover of €50.7bn was down by 2.4% compared to the previous year. Unilever’s ecomm sales grew by 61% in its latest financial year as shoppers turned online to buy its hygiene and ‘at home’ food brands during Covid lockdowns.

How the E-grocery industry has grown, shaped and picked up billions along the way

Exploring the why, how, and who of all the recent corporate x startup love.

For a pick-me-up. For comfort. Because it tastes good. For joy. The reasons we eat the food we do are many – but a new trend indicates that for increasing numbers of people, the answer to the question “What’s for dinner?” is being driven by health reasons. As what we eat increasingly continues to experience a lifestyle rebranding, consumers are turning to food and beverage products that promise not just flavour, enjoyment or nutrition, but also additional functions that boost their health or claim to target a particular issue (like sleep or energy levels).

This Week, Beyond looks beyond meat. The plant-based meat producer’s stock jumped as much as 39% Tuesday after announcing a joint venture with Pepsi to make plant-based drinks and snacks. And after the unprecedented boom in premium CPG in 2020, consumers will shift towards value and private label brands through 2021, and will also prefer smaller sizes over large packs due to pandemic-induced penny pinching, according to a consumer trend report from IRI.

Apply to ProVeg three-month accelerator programme of expert-led workshops, talks, industry meet and greets, and exclusive events to equip your startups with all the tools needed to succeed. The deadline for applications is Sunday 7 February and the programme is due to kick off in April.

Apply to ProVeg three-month accelerator programme of expert-led workshops, talks, industry meet and greets, and exclusive events to equip your startups with all the tools needed to succeed. The deadline for applications is Sunday, 18 July 2021 and the programme is due to kick off in September.

In this week's funding news: Finnish food, grocery and retail delivery company Wolt secured $530M to further expand its operations, proof that the on-demand sector is on fire right now, and that it could go up against delivery giant Deliveroo (whose founder could personally make more than $500M in its upcoming IPO) in terms of its potential reach and revenue.

It was too close to call all week on our Discovery board until the very last minute yesterday, so you know it was a winning bunch of innovative ideas. This week’s selection included plant-based dumplings and moon cakes alongside vitamin water and energy bites, but here are your winners.

Nope, not a post about dating in your 30s, but rather the real problem of running out of actual fish in the sea, which experts predict will happen by 2050. Years of overfishing have left fish and seafood stocks in danger, but people still love it. In fact, the global seafood market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2020 to 2025, as consumers shift away from meat and towards other protein sources.

Back in the day, mealtime for man’s best friend likely meant throwing a few leftover scraps down or opening a tin of meat. But in 2020 the phrase ‘dog’s dinner’ no longer seems fit for purpose - today’s pooch owners are in the market for more than mere sustenance when it comes to what they feed their beloved canines. Sustainability, nutrition and personalisation are just three emerging consumer desires. And the pet food industry - expected to hit revenues of $128.4 billion globally by 2022 - is responding to these demands with an array of new developments.