US vertical farming company Plenty secured $400M Series E funding, marking the largest round to date for an indoor farming company, and has partnered with Walmart to supply produce to the retailer’s stores. Alt protein-focused venture capital firm Unovis Asset Management, based in the US, closed an oversubscribed €146M fund, which it will use to further extend its alternative protein portfolio.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released its Five-Year Agricultural Plan this week, and specifically mentions cultivated meat in “frontier and cross-disciplinary technologies.” The Indian government will offer subsidies of up to 100% to encourage the purchase of agricultural drones, which help farmers to more accurately monitor crops and improve yields (and reduce waste!).

With bacon a staple in many western breakfasts, it's no surprise that the global bacon market is expected to grow to $40bn by 2027. This is giving rise to budding entrepreneurs who are creating a diverse array of alternative bacon products to feed our growing demand in a more sustainable and ethical way using algae, mushrooms, sunflower oil, pea protein and more.‍

South Korea’s Greenlabs raised $140M Series C funding to accelerate the global expansion of its agtech platform, which offers smart farm technology solutions including AI-based insight into crop lifecycles. Aussie 10-minute grocery delivery service Milkrun secured $75M in a Series A round led by Tiger Global. The service only launched four months ago and currently operates in 35 suburbs across Sydney.

Florida’s orange and citrus crop is set to be its smallest in 75 years due to an outbreak of citrus greening. Bad news for OJ lovers as prices are going to surge thanks to the supply issues. Investment in the seaweed industry was up by 36% to $168 million in 2021, according to data from a new Phyconomy study, and we can only see this going up as the number of seaweed startups has grown by 50% in the last two years.

So what exactly makes up FBS? A lot, it turns out. It’s a veritable melange of growth hormones, proteins, fatty acids, vitamins and more. Its complicated makeup means it is not easy to replicate. It’s been used in biomedical contexts for about sixty years, because it enables the growth and reproduction of all animal and human cells in a laboratory setting. Sounds great in theory, but we’ve already touched on the ethical problems in practice... And it’s not only the ethics of FBS that are an issue. It’s also extremely costly to produce, selling for as much as $2,000 per litre. And some companies are saying: “Enough! We’ll come up with something better!”

Want to know what leading FoodTech investors are watching this year? We asked 25 FoodTech VC's, Angels and Corporates on what they're excited by in 2022. Some of the highlights include: 

Estonian mobility company Bolt raised €628M at a valuation of €7.4 billion to expand to new geographies and build more ‘dark stores’ to support its 15-minute grocery delivery service, Bolt Market. Californian biomaterial startup MycoWorks secured $125M Series C funding to scale production of its environmentally-friendly leather, made from fungi

We asked 25 FoodTech VC's, Angels and Corporates on what they're excited by in 2022. Highlights include: Side stream valorisation (especially on coffee, cocoa and grains) Cell-cultured enabling tech (scaffolding, medium, etc.) Democratized nutrition (convenient, affordable and nutrient-dense)

As you might already know, making alternative eggs - using plants, proteins or otherwise - isn’t exactly something that comes easy. And customers have high expectations of their plant-based substitutes, following on from the success of meat mimickers like the Impossible Burger. People want eggs they can fry, poach, scramble and whisk up well in an everyday bake. And if that’s not already asking for a lot, customers also want them to have the same health benefits and texture of normal eggs too…

Israeli animal-free dairy startup Remilk raised $120M Series B funding and is now valued at $325M, ten times last year’s valuation. The startup replicates animal casein via microbial fermentation, and estimates that its sales will reach $600M by 2026. SoftBank’s Vision Fund II bought a $100M stake in British meal kit subscription service Gousto, which is backed by celebrity fitness instructor Joe Wicks.

What’s Up: It looks like the high ingredient and service prices caused by multiple challenges in 2021 are likely to carry on well into 2022. According to Sosland Publishing Co. the index with the largest gain last year was pasta, which in mid-December was up 140% year-on-year. What’s Down: Data from the New Statesman shows that one third of people intend to change their diets in 2022, of which 34% are “reducetarians”, cutting back on their meat intake.

A growing awareness of food as a driver of climate change combined with favorable investment conditions and a new normal of investment via Zoom calls all drove record amounts of capital into transformative FoodTech startups. We’re leaps closer to moonshot technologies that will grow nutritious, affordable food for billions of people without ravaging the planet. 

Instant grocery giant GoPuff is on track to raise $1.5 billion, at a valuation of $40 billion, to further expand its international operations. The space is booming, here are our thoughts on it from earlier this year. Israel’s Future Meat Technologies is raising $320M in a round that will bring its value to $600M (hello, Soonicorn!), and allow it to build a cell-based meat production facility in the US. CEO Rom Kshuk also stepped down this week.

What’s Up: According to data from Statista, the QSR market is “poised for record growth in 2021”, with more than $281 billion in sales, up from $200 billion in 2020. AgFunder reported that farm techs in India saw $527M investment across 119 deals in the year 2020-21, signalling increased demand for farming management solutions. What’s Down: Figures from Catalina show that a third of consumers plan to avoid alcohol this holiday season, in line with the trend for low and no-alcohol consumption that’s been evident the past few years. More for the rest of us!

Beginning in the mid 2010s, Israel has gained a reputation as a leader in food and agritech, with a new wave of major companies sprouting up ahead of the foodtech boom including TIPA, Hinoman and Biomilk. So how did a country without natural resources and a history of unrest become a self-styled Startup Nation?

There’s been significant growth and investor interest in the plant-based pud category. And we’re showcasing the avo ice-cream, dessert hummus, cookies and oat milk popsicles that prove it…

To help you keep track of Israels booming Food and AgTech scene, FoodHack's team has compiled a list of Israels FoodTech Unicorns, Soonicorns and Futurecorns using public data and our own research. Check back regularly as we’ll update the list whenever a new company makes the cut.

Berlin-headquartered instant grocery delivery service Flink raised $750M in a Series B round led by DoorDash, is now valued at $2.85 billion, and plans to use the funding to further expand its footprint. San Francisco-based The Every Company closed an oversubscribed $175M Series C round to scale production and commercialise a pipeline of animal-free protein products.

New data from Emerging Tech Research shows that venture funding for agtech startups hit a quarterly record of $3.2 billion in Q3 2021. The annual deal total is already more than 20% up on last year at $7.8 billion.

From menstruation apps to mood-balancing bites - there’s plenty of space for food-based solutions to play their part in the growing women’s health category.

Singapore food delivery app Grab, which provides meal and grocery delivery, cloud kitchen and other services throughout Southeast Asia, raised $4.5 billion following a record-breaking SPAC deal - the largest in the world to date. New York speedy grocery delivery service JOKR raised $260M Series B funding and hit unicorn status just nine months after launching. It plans to further expand its operations, which includes a push into three continents at once.

The price of Thanksgiving is going up this year, with data from IRI showing that prices of most Thanksgiving foods are up 5-10% across many products compared with last year. Plus, GlobalData estimates that US holiday food spending will increase by 8.6% from 2020 to $53.1 billion, due to inflation but also to higher sales volumes as people go back to big gatherings.

To help you keep track of it all, FoodHack's team has compiled a list of Europe’s FoodTech Unicorns, Soonicorns and Futurecorns using public data and our own research — with round estimates from Crunchbase and Tracxn. Check back regularly as we’ll update the list whenever a new company makes the cut. To be added to the list, companies must hit the following criteria: headquartered in Europe; FoodTech focussed, founded in 2000 or later; private (not listed or acquired). Please let us know if we’ve missed any at team@foodhack.global‍

The year 2020 has been something of a turning point for European foodtech. Funding reached €2.7 billion and investment which had previously focused on delivery and distribution (e.g. Getir), started to be seen across the whole value chain - from alternative protein creation to D2C packaged goods brands and alternative farming, to name just a few.

US plant-based pioneer Impossible Foods has raised another $500M, bringing its total funding raised to date to $2 billion, after a spate of new product releases and country launches. Pretty sure there’ll be more. San Francisco-based New Culture raised $25M in an oversubscribed Series A round to scale up production and grow its team ahead of the launch of its animal-free mozzarella cheese, made via precision fermentation.

The price of Thanksgiving is going up this year, with data from IRI showing that prices of most Thanksgiving foods are up 5-10% across many products compared with last year. Plus, GlobalData estimates that US holiday food spending will increase by 8.6% from 2020 to $53.1 billion, due to inflation but also to higher sales volumes as people go back to big gatherings.

The traditional spice supply market is the opposite of transparent. Long, complex supply chains mean that the average spice on your supermarket’s shelves will have changed hands about 20 times before it ends up in your pantry.

Recently, we started to see a new pressure emerging on the food system: the cost and availability of fertilizer. So this week, we’re nosing in and talking about why it’s happening, who is most impacted, and what it all means for foodtech and consumers. 

It’s that time of the year where accelerators around the world call on founders behind early stage startups to apply to fast track their growth.Accelerators are a great option for founders in the early days and give access to a plethora of tools, training, resources, mentors, network and more - all in a short period of time (often 2 to 4 months). 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.

Fresh food retail platform GrubMarket raised $200M in an oversubscribed Series E round at a valuation of $1.2 billion, and is aiming to IPO in the next year having already achieved an annual run rate of $1 billion. Chinese agrifoodtech venture capital firm Bits x Bites closed its latest fund at $100M to support the country’s startups that are working towards a sustainable food future.

Chobani increased its revenue by 5.2% to $1.4billion in 2020, is the top brand in the yoghurt category with just over 20% market share, and is heading towards its IPO. Oatly shares have taken a massive tumble, falling by nearly 20% this week after missing revenue expectations and suffering quality and supply issues

When you hear ‘genetically edited food’ you probably think of Bayer or Monsanto or so-called ‘Frankenfood’, angry protestors and ongoing controversy. But genetic modification has grown up and birthed a novel, more precise technology that could hold the keys to a more sustainable and efficient food production system.

2022 is gearing up to be a transformational year for food innovation, with massive milestones for game-changing technologies like cultured meat and other low-footprint products hitting store shelves. We’re running down a few of the ‘macro’ trends in the broader economy, and highlighting a few trends we think are about to hit their stride to define 2022. 

US food delivery giant DoorDash has acquired Finnish competitor Wolt in an all-stock transaction for €7 billion. Wolt was founded in 2014, pioneered the European food delivery sector, and operates in 23 countries. Bioenergy DevCo secured $100M to support the development of multiple anaerobic digestion facilities, which use microorganisms to convert organic waste material into fuel and fertilizer, across North America.

Wheat prices have hit their highest level since 2012, thanks to supply issues following a drought in the northwestern US. In fact, the world has consumed more wheat than has been produced in the last two years. Neat Burger celebrated World Vegan Month by launching a burger into outer space to send out the message that the rise of plant-based foods will be “meteoric”.

Can we have our cake bread and eat it too? With diabetes on the rise and a move away from refined carbohydrates inspired by the keto movement, is time up for the humble loaf?

Soli Organic entered into a $120M financing agreement with real estate firm Decennial Group to expand with eight new indoor farms, each with the capacity to grow 5 million pounds of produce per year. Brazilian alternative protein startup Future Farm secured $58M Series C funding to expand distribution of its vegan meats and grow its range of plant-based products to include dairy.

The food menu at COP26, currently taking place in Glasgow, has been likened to “serving cigarettes at a cancer conference” (ouch) due to the animal-heavy choices on offer. The menus do feature carbon counts and 95% of ingredients are sourced from the UK, though, so it’s not all bad..

Indian agricultural marketplace DeHaat secured $115M Series D funding, marking the country’s largest-ever agtech round. Its platform links smallholder farmers across India with input vendors, agronomists, distributors, financing options, and other service providers. Fabric raised $200M Series C funding, putting its valuation at $1 billion and hitting what it dubs ‘robocorn’ status. Previously known as Common Sense Robotics, it works with large online grocers and retailers such as Walmart and Instacart to develop robotic micro-fulfillment solutions.

According to data from Research & Markets, the worldwide algae products industry is set to reach $6.4 billion by 2026, up from $4.7 billion in 2021 and marking a CAGR of 6.3%. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been named as the world’s biggest plastic polluters for the fourth year in a row, and Unilever has climbed to third place, despite being the sponsor for the upcoming COP26.

Bioreactors are large vats or chambers provide the ideal conditions for cells to multiply and grow, allowing cell lines to be developed for food production. In order to make cultivated meat, dairy, and ingredients using precision fermentation, companies need bioreactors.

Berlin-based grocery delivery startup Gorillas raised almost $1 billion Series C funding, in a round led by Delivery Hero, having grown rapidly to operate over 180 warehouses in nine international markets since its inception in June 2020. Rubio Impact Ventures closed its second fund with €110M, almost 40% more than its initial target, and plans to invest in over 30 impact-focused companies.

Swiss food giant Nestlé has raised its annual forecast after reporting stronger-than-expected sales for the second quarter in a row, having seen strong demand for pet food and coffee. Probably because people are still at home, drinking too much coffee and enjoying their lockdown pets. ‍

And what once was a niche market is becoming increasingly popular, with the growth of the plant-based chocolate market expected to outpace the growth of traditional milk chocolate, and be worth $1bn in 6 years’ time.

Atlantic Food Labs is relaunching as FoodLabs and is dedicating a €100M fund to support food, health and sustainability startups, with the goal of helping Europe to become the “epicenter of food and agtech innovation”. Culture Biosciences announced its $80M Series B financing round to develop 5L and 250L bioreactors and meet demand for large-scale biomanufacturing - used for everything from meat alternatives to vaccines. Also in this space is recent entrant (and FH demo day startup) Ark Biotech.

According to the latest Meat Atlas report, the top five meat and dairy companies in the world produce higher emissions than the biggest oil producers. What’s Down: France will ban plastic packaging for fruits and vegetables from January 2022, in order to cut down on single-use plastic and reduce packaging consumption.‍

Neeraj Berry (@neerajberry), founder & general partner of Tet Ventures, joins Arman Anaturk (@armananaturk) to discuss his journey from scrappy entrepreneurial kid in silicon valley, to founder of Sprig ($60M raised) to joining the world of VC. He also shares more on how to leverage cold emails to get what you want, the ingredients behind successful founders and a peak into his portfolio and what's next in foodtech.

Last Wednesday featured FoodHack’s first ever Demo Day, which brought together the world’s leading FoodTech investors with 40 early-stage startups looking to change the future of food. It was a whirlwind event, with each startup restricted to a 2 minute pitch followed by a round of Q&A from our four judges.

Consumers are on board with the move to greener grocery concepts. In fact, 71% of consumers say large supermarket chains should be legally mandated to produce annual reports on their perishable and packaging waste, and face monetary fines if they fail to do so.

Five Seasons Ventures announced the final closing of its €180M second fund, with a focus on European foodtech and designed to support fast-growing food startups with a quantifiable environmental or social impact. Indian cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods raised $175M Series F funding at a valuation of $1.4 billion, making it the latest Indian startup to hit unicorn status.

Pea protein prices have soared by 120% year-on-year in Canada, as a result of droughts affecting supply by as much as 45%, and a similar price hike is expected across the globe as interest in alternative proteins continues to surge

This week, Boston-based synbio startup Ginkgo Bioworks has gone public on the NYSE, having raised $1.6 billion through a SPAC deal with Soaring Eagle and bringing its estimated value to $15 billion. And Perfect Day, Inc. raised $350M Series D funding to further expand its business, bringing its total funding to date to $750M, and is now valued at approximately $1.5 billion.

This Week In Food: what's in store for Q4? vegan baklava, Perfect Day's pre-IPO raise, plenty of new FoodTech Jobs

Lemna is incredibly rich in protein and grows at an extraordinarily speedy pace, making it ideal for mass-scale production. What’s more, this microalgae is easier for humans to digest than soy or pea protein and has a neutral, slightly nutty flavour and colour, so has the potential to be used in a wide variety of food applications.

Restaurant tech startup Sunday, which launched just five months ago, secured $100M Series A funding for its QR code-based restaurant checkout system, which saves wait time and increases table turnover. Eat Just’s GOOD Meat raised another $97M funding, bringing its total to $267M, to work towards commercialising its cultivated chicken in the U.S. and scale up its Singapore operations.

This Week In Food: Where DiCaprio's investing his earnings. The latest restaurant tech and eGrocery billionaires. Alt-seafood reels in record year in funding. Starbucks try's to go reusable (again).‍

In recent years, computer and online gaming has gone from an at-home hobby to a massive global industry marked by huge competitions, events and corporate sponsorships. This is all described under the umbrella term ‘esports’, which refers to competition-level video gaming. And similar to the field of sports nutrition, a whole market had sprung up to fuel these competitive e-athletes - from supplements to energy drinks to meal replacements that claim to enhance concentration and memory among other things.

Functional gummies can deliver nutrients and pharmaceuticals to customers in a tasty, delicious package. And with more and more people interested in taking preventive measures to protect their health in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, interest - and investment - in fortified candies is growing.

FoodHack just announced the 40 FoodTech startups participating in its first ever Demo Day. The selected cohort is a glimpse into some of the most promising segments of FoodTech today. Highlights include: US-based, Biomilq, creating cultured breast milk through mammary biotechnology. Switzerland-based Kitro, with an AI-driven automated food waste platform to reduce waste in the hospitality sector. Spira, based in the U.S., creating carbon-negative materials from engineered algae. Netherlands based Cultivated Biosciences - creating plant-based fat alternatives for use in plant-based dairy products.

In this week's newsletter, I’m giving a peek into the selection process, specifically what I looked for when selecting the batch, and which companies I have marked down as my favorites. Our 40 participating companies all have unique paths to liquidity, but we generally liked ingredient tech companies which could be acquired by a big player, as well as consumer-facing brands with a viable acquisition pathway.

Turkish on-demand delivery service Getir pulled in another $150M, bringing its total funding for the year to over $1.1B. The startup plans to use the fresh funds to further expand within Turkey and abroad. GrubMarket secured $120M Series E funding at a $1B+ pre-money valuation for its tech which consolidates grocery delivery supply chains and manages relationships between food suppliers and their customers.

It's a good week to be in the European FoodTech scene. In Germany, alt-dairy maker Formo announced their $50M Series A raise (a record for FoodTech in Europe).In Switzerland, food giants Givaudan, Migros and Buhler announced the launch of their cultured meat pilot plant.In Netherlands, cell-based meat co. Meatable partnered with DSM to lower the cost of growth media.In Finland, Helsinki-based Maki.vc closed its second fund at €100M to invest into seed stage startups across Europe.In Spain, Eatable Adventures announced the launching of their New Food Innovation hub in Madrid.

Healthier energy drinks sales have boomed in recent years, as these once-specialised drinks have gone mainstream. Established soft drinks manufacturers are opening their eyes to the business opportunities in functional energy drinks, and startups in the drinks sector have looked at the sales figures (energy drinks have outperformed soft drinks in sales for the last 5 years) and thought “hey! We can do that!”

“Permanent” food shortages in the UK. A 32.9% increase in food prices since last year. A global shortage of truckers as high as 20% in Asia (and 100,000 in Britain). Stuff ain’t moving like it used to. Our supply chains are more complicated and less stable than ever, making shopping & eating less certain, and more expensive.

In this week's edition: Tyson's "all natural" chicken under fire.Impossible enters the alt-nuggets race.The ghost kitchen that launched a $25M fund.News and events from the community.

This week, Mammoth Biosciences raised $145M combined Series C and D funding, at a valuation of more than $1 billion and London-based community sustainability app, designed to support hyperlocal food sharing, OLIO closed $43M Series B funding to continue its fight against the $1.3T of food waste created around the world each year.

Alternative flours generally refer to ground flour products that can be used as a substitute to wheat flour, whether in baking, pasta, bread-making or other wheat-based foods. Retailers have reported rising sales of alternative flour to back up anecdotal evidence, citing lockdown baking as a key driver of sales. Organic flour maker Doves Farm also announced that sales of organic flour - both conventional and alternative - have risen by 84.2% in the last year. So what’s driving the trend? ‍

Freight shipping prices are up 351% year-on-year, with no signs of reversal. That’s compounding with the increased cost of shipping containers and pallets (the humble pallet was more in-demand than ever this year, just when lumber prices were spiking). That all means shipping from China to Europe often costs 10x what it did a year ago. Yes, 10x!

Oviva raised $80M Series C funding, bringing its total raised to date to $115M, to scale up its app-delivered personalised healthy eating programs, which can be tailored to suit any diet or lifestyle. Last-mile delivery service Point Pickup Technologies acquired white label e-commerce platform GrocerKey for $42M, allowing retailers to offer same-day deliveries under their own brand name.

In this week's edition: World’s first cell-based crab meat, Europe's largest plant-based Series A., Gary V's recent investments into food, What it's like inside a dark store.‍

The lupini bean, also known simply as the lupin, is a legume - just like chickpeas and soybeans. Popular as a snack in Italy and conventionally grown for animal feed in Australia, the lupini bean hasn’t traditionally hogged the limelight. ‍

80 Acres Farms raised $160M Series B funding for its network of eight indoor farms, which currently serve around 600 retail and foodservice locations. The startup claims to have posted 450% growth in revenue since the end of last year. Better-for-you coffee brand Super Coffee’s parent company, Kitu Life, secured $106M Series C funding at $500M+ valuation, to expand product distribution and increase brand-building efforts.

The gig economy has seen a lot of backlash lately, underlined by Spanish speedy delivery service Glovo riders and dark store workers striking today to demand better pay and working conditions. And a California judge just ruled Prop 22 unconstitutional, If the judge's ruling is upheld, unprofitable apps like Uber and DoorDash would likely become even more unprofitable.

From hemp seed cheeze to creamy spreads made from almonds, coconut mozzarella and vegan cheese fermented using microbes, the alternative cheese sector is positively oozing.

Acquisition: for many founders, it’s the light at the end of a long, long tunnel. A big payday for the early believers, and a possible game-changing move for the acquiring company. It’s also a red-hot activity in foodtech in 2021.

80 Acres Farms raised $160M Series B funding for its network of eight indoor farms, which currently serve around 600 retail and foodservice locations. The startup claims to have posted 450% growth in revenue since the end of last year. Better-for-you coffee brand Super Coffee’s parent company, Kitu Life, secured $106M Series C funding at $500M+ valuation, to expand product distribution and increase brand-building efforts.

What’s Up: Oatly’s revenue was up 50% in Q2 2021, and the firm now expects full year revenues of over $690M, a 64% increase YOY, as it prioritises growth investments over profitability. What’s Down: Walmart’s US ecommerce sales boomed this time last year, but are now slowing down: the retailer reported only a 6% increase compared to last year, whilst Amazon reported a 22% jump in sales for the same quarter.‍

In recent years, there’s been a backlash against ultra-processed food - which was recently found to account for two-thirds of calories consumed by children and food - and high sugar levels found in many products aimed at kids. So several startups have sprung up to offer smarter solutions - whether it’s low-sugar yogurts, fruit snacks, cell-based breast milk or vegan purées.‍‍

30+ of the most important terms for founders and advisors looking to understand the mechanisms of foodtech investment

80 Acres Farms raised $160M Series B funding for its network of eight indoor farms, which currently serve around 600 retail and foodservice locations. The startup claims to have posted 450% growth in revenue since the end of last year. Better-for-you coffee brand Super Coffee’s parent company, Kitu Life, secured $106M Series C funding at $500M+ valuation, to expand product distribution and increase brand-building efforts.

The price of your coffee is about to go up, as producers struggle with rising costs and constrained supply. Worse still, a cold snap in Brazil is set to reduce next year’s coffee bean crop, too. Time to cut back on the caffeine? What’s Down: Shares of agritech startup AppHarvest fell a whopping 29% this week due to a massive drop in its projected full-year 2021 earnings, but could it be by design?‍

From Nigerian alt-protein and order-ahead apps in Egypt to ready-to-eat meals in Kenya and South African cultured fish - Africa has a new "innovation quadrangle". Powered by a number of tech hubs that make up the backbone of a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, the next generation of foodtech startups are transforming international megatrends into authentic African business models. ‍

It’s time: you’ve got your gazillion-dollar idea on the back of a napkin (or more likely on a Google doc) and you're now ready to go all-in on the startup life. But are you sure you can do it alone? Enter the cofounder: something between a business partner and a spouse, here to round out the leadership team, support with critical skills that you're missing, and set your startup on the path to success.‍

US speedy delivery service Gopuff raised $1 billion in its latest funding round, bringing its total valuation to $15 billion, to accelerate its expansion across North America, the UK and Europe. Australian plant-based protein startup v2food raised A$72M Series B funding, bringing its total raised to A$185M and its valuation to over A$500M in just 2.5 years. The company will use the fresh funds to accelerate its expansion into China and Europe.

Gorillas may be sailing into a perfect storm of pissed off workers, poor data privacy standards, and massive burn rate. Is it enough to scare off investors from their massive $600M raise (a decreased ask from their original $1B)?

There’s a new iteration of coffee drinker on the scene. A mediocre cup of jo just doesn’t cut it for this educated, passionate, millennial coffee drinker who’s equally interested in sustainability, health and ethics. These consumers are willing to pay more for a delicious cup of coffee that doesn’t come with ambiguous morals. Also helping? The wild amount of money flowing into the sector right now. The market for coffee is huge, given 2 billion cups of the stuff are lapped up daily, and investors are keen to have their chance to fund the next unicorn.

Chilean alternative protein food tech NotCo raised $235M Series D funding and gained its unicorn horn with a valuation of $1.5B. It uses a proprietary AI platform to create new plant-based dairy, egg and meat alternatives. AppHarvest scored a $91M construction loan from Equilibrium Capital to support its goal of building out 12 high-tech indoor farming facilities, which will use a mix of hydroponics, sensors, supplemental LED lighting, automation and AI as well as natural inputs like sunlight and rainwater to grow produce, by 2025.

According to cell-meat startup Upside Foods, Cultivated meat costs are dropping faster than the cost of sequencing a human genome and we're now in $10-$100/lbs territory.

Move over bleeding veggie burgers and vegan hot dogs: animal-free chicken is the next big thing in plant-based. Well, perhaps that’s not quite right. Plant-based chicken nuggets and sausages, certainly, have been on sale for a long time. But these analogues haven't exactly enjoyed the success of their relatives in the beef and pork substitutes segment. But thanks to advances in technology and a growing wave of new startups in the sector, things are hotting up. And food tech whizzes are even getting closer to replicating a whole cut chicken… ‍

Startup valuations are something between disciplined accounting and black magic, so it’s no wonder that today’s skyrocketing valuations are making some observers scratch their heads. We’re seeing startups with no revenue and no validation raising on $4-$8M valuations.

Indian food delivery startup Swiggy raised $1.25B series J funding, giving it a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion. The startup says the new round, which was oversubscribed, reflects the turnaround it has demonstrated in the wake of the pandemic. Colombian on-demand delivery startup Rappi raised ‘over’ $500M series F funding at a $5.25B valuation, bringing its total raised to over $2B. Rappi has operations in 250 cities across nine countries in Latin America.

What’s Up: Chipotle posted a second-quarter earnings report which exceeded Wall Street expectations, thanks to the mass return of diners desperate to eat out again after months of pandemic lockdowns. Alternative proteins are set to accelerate at a CAGR of 8% in the period 2020-27, hitting $4.8B by 2027, with Chinese demand and mycoprotein the main drivers behind the growth.

With the F&B industry more competitive than ever, companies who make the most of big data analytics can achieve a distinct competitive advantage. Done well, predictive analytics can help companies to expand their growth, streamline their strategy and increase their profit margins. 

No founding team is capable of solving all of the many problems a startup will face. And the best teams will be honest about what they don’t know, and ask for help. Enter the startup advisor. They’re a pillar of expertise, sounding board for great (and bad) ideas, and a channel for key introductions to partners, new hires, and investors. It’s a flexible concept, but generally advisors round up the strengths of a founding team with deep domain knowledge and a set of outside eyes for the startup.‍

South Korean agricultural commodities platform Tridge closed $60M series C funding. It claims that it now receives more than 300,000 visitors each month, with an additional 50,000 buyers signing up since it launched its market intelligence offering last October. FreshRealm raised $32M, bringing its total funding to $46.6M. It claims to be the only US prepared fresh meals company with nationwide reach, and plans to focus on product innovation and developing proprietary ingredients for its meals.

What’s Up: PepsiCo Inc’s second-quarter revenue was up 13% to $19.2B this quarter, the biggest jump in a decade, as restaurant demand boomed in the wake of the pandemic. The firm also saw a 2.5% rise in its share price. What’s Down: According to a new report by Rabobank, the summer months could slow down online grocery sales, which have seen major growth through the pandemic.‍

Angel investors are individual investors who invest in the earliest stage of a company’ growth. They invest a ‘small’ amount (typically $10K to $100K) before other more traditional investors would be confident enough to invest.

New foodtech funding rounds of the week from: Equilibrium Capital, Kitopi, Aleph Farms, C3, Meati Foods, MaxAB, Agrando, Micropep Technologies, AgroSustain, Buddha Brands, Ready Burger, Vembla, Time-travelling Milkman, DaVinci Kitchen, P&P Optica

What’s Up: As consumers start to ditch masks and get up close and personal again, sales of chewing gum have leapt up by 23%, according to data shared by Bloomberg. Luckily there’s a breath of fresh air in this space with entrants like True Gum, Tree Gum, Mighty Gum, Forest Gum, Shewy and more all working on a new wave of minty, functional and sustainable alternatives.