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.

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.

Say farewell to the unhealthy, stale fare of vending machines as you know it: the new vending machine is all about food that tastes good and is good for the consumer. And the new vending machine is hyper-connected, often deploying robotics and AI to ensure a super-sleek and smooth experience for the user.

Record-smashing investment, future-tech hitting supermarket shelves, and, oh yeah, a pandemic. And so as we raise our champagne at midnight to–– what’s that? It’s only July? Oh boy. Anyways, it’s been a banner year with more money and more hype than ever. So this week, we’re reflecting on the biggest takeaways of the year (so far), looking back at our 2021 predictions we made in January, and thinking ahead to what we assume will bloom before year’s end 🌼‍

New foodtech funding rounds of the week from: Anterra Capital, Omnivore, Rohlik Group, THIS, Botrista Technology, Soft Robotics, Beeflow, Elite Sweets, The Single Origin Food Co.

What’s Up: Deliveroo’s vegan category is up 107% over the past year and is its fastest-growing area, with over 50% of its orders now containing plant-based items.

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.

Snackpass raised $70M series B funding at a $400M valuation. It is a social commerce platform for ordering from restaurants, letting people see what their friends are eating, enabling them to order food and drinks for each other and group order, with buyers picking it all up for themselves, self-described as “food meets friends”. Glasgow-based food tech Enough, formerly 3F Bio, secured $51M series B funding to bring its sustainable mycoprotein ingredient, for use in plant-based foods, to market.

A year of eating at home has got consumers excited about cooking again. A survey by The Food Industry Association showed that 41% of consumers surveyed intend to prepare more meals at home going forward than they did pre-pandemic

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’.‍‍