FoodHack’s Post

What's new in FoodTech? Get the headlines in 2 minutes. 📈 What’s up? Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn revealed that 44.1% of the proteins it sold in 2023 were plant-based, up from 42.6% in 2022. 📉 What’s down? Minor Figures saw its losses grow to nearly £10 million last year, due to inflationary pressures and a decline in the APAC region. 🔐 Closing down: Chicago-based Sacred Serve, which makes non-dairy gelato using upcycled coconut meat, has shut down its operations. 🍫 The EU is set to fine Mondelēz International for restricting sales of its products between EU member states. 🐟 Exclusive: How Pacifico Biolabs (20233 HackSummit Pitch Finalists) are navigating new waters to bring biomass-fermented seafood to the masses. 🇳🇱 Dutch cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat secured €40 million, in a round led by Lowercarbon Capital and M Ventures. 🇮🇱 Greeneye Technology raised $20 million to scale its operations in the US. 🇰🇪 PULA raised $20 million Series B funding to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 🌾 OlsAro raised €2.5 million seed funding to expand its climate smart crop breeding platform. ☀️ Solar Foods announced the opening of its Factor 01, the world’s first commercial-scale air protein facility. 🧫 Meatable hosted the EU’s first public tasting event for cultivated meat. 👎 Perfect Day is being sued by Olon for alleged breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, and fraudulent concealment. 🧀 Nobell Foods rebranded to Alpine Bio and secured its 10th US patent. 🇮🇪 Senoptica Technologies has been approved for entry into the North American market by the FDA. 🐢 NotCo has developed NotTurtle Soup, a plant-based solution to turtle soup aimed at preserving the global green sea turtle population, using its AI technology. 7️⃣ Canada’s Wamame Foods Inc. unveiled what it says is the “world’s highest protein content” meat alternative, 64% higher than that of cooked ground beef, which is made with just seven ingredients. 🍔 GreenCoLab unveiled three microalgae-based prototypes. 🍄 US butchery Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors joined forces with mycelium meat company Mush Foods to launch a burger made with the startup’s 50CUT blend. 💕 Kraft Heinz has partnered with Mattel to create the Barbiecue sauce, a hot pink mix of (vegan) mayo and barbecue sauce, in homage to Barbie. 💰 McCain Foods announced the acquisition of Irish “veg-first food brand” STRONG ROOTS for an undisclosed sum, having invested $55 million in the company in 2021. HackTrends on synbio for new materials with expert opinions from Brett Cotten and Stephanie Lipp 👋 Join us at a FoodHack Meetup in Dubai, Vienna, Lisbon, Boston, Mexico City 💰 Grow-NY International Business Competition is open for agrifoodtech startups. 🤝 What makes a great early-stage startup team by Steve Molino and NewMoo’s Daphna Miller gives top tips for coming out of stealth https://lnkd.in/eeYy_wfq

Almost $100M of funding went to FoodTech startups in the last 7 days 💸 🇳🇱 Mosa Meat secured €40 million, in a round led by Lowercarbon Capital and M Ventures , to support the “next phase” of its growth plans ahead of a planned launch in Singapore later this year. 🇮🇱 Greeneye Technology raised $20 million to scale its operations in the US. 🇰🇪 Kenyan insurtech PULA raised $20 million Series B funding to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 💦 VitalFluid B.V. BV secured €5 million to launch its sustainable alternative to agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilisers, Plasma Activated Water. 🍊 UK-based Daily Dose Juice secured £3 million from IW Capital for its cold-pressed juices and functional drinks, which it makes by partnering directly with British farmers to upcycle waste produce that would otherwise be thrown away. 🇦🇺 Bygen raised $2.6 million in a Series A funding round led by government-backed investment fund Breakthrough Victoria. It will use the funds to establish its large-scale production plant, where it will turn agricultural waste into activated carbon. 🌾 OlsAro, based in Sweden, raised €2.5 million seed funding to expand its climate smart crop breeding platform. 🇸🇪 Sweden’s Saveggy secured €1.76 million for its plant-based vegetable packaging, which consists of an additive-free formula of canola and oats that is coated onto fresh produce before it is delivered to stores. 🐄 Agteria Biotech announced a successful €1.4 million pre-seed funding round. It claims that its patent-pending one-gram daily feed additive cuts cow methane emissions by 70%. 🚀 Australian startup Preplocal raised $200,000 pre-seed funding from Melbourne-based VC Skalata for its tech platform, which enables food producers and brands to efficiently scale B2B distribution for a low margin. Congratulations to Maarten Bosch Sarah Lucas Tim van de Rijdt Lewis Dunnigan Mathieu Jamet Martin Blomberg Maia Lidbeck Marika King Erika Hombert Vahid Sohrabpour🍀 Arash Fayyazi, Anna Lundin Elén Faxö Carl-Fredrik Wachtmeister Paul Leenders Erik Hertel Mark van Boxtel Rose Goslinga Nabil Janmohamed Nadav Bocher Guy Molcho Robert E. Jones https://lnkd.in/eRY7EvWX

Today’s the day (and also the last day) to enter your startup into the FoodTech World Cup. We’re teaming up with Givaudan - Taste & Wellbeing to host a global pitch competition that showcases regional talents across the agrifood value chain. 60 startups will be shortlisted to pitch in their region’s virtual Demo Day to top tier investors with a place in the grand final at the HackSummit up for grabs. You’ve gotta be in it, to win it. So head this way 👉 https://lnkd.in/dYQPYSqR With thanks to our regional expert Jury: 🌎 North America Steven Finn, Stephanie Dorsey, Sarah Al Sayadi, Steve Molino 🌍 Sub-Saharan Africa Hakeem A. Jimo, Abby Stern, Romain Diaz, Andrew Meredith, Maxime Bayen 🌏 APAC Jolene L., Mark Kahn, Ai Mey Chuah, Michal Klar, 🌍 Europe Bodil Sidén, Christian Guba, Ryan Grant Little, Susanne Steghoefer, Susana Reber 🌎 Latin America Matías Peire, Flávia Angella, DJ Lampitt, Camila Petignat, Ruben Altman 🌍 MENA Nader Amiri, Amir Zaidman, Gil Horsky, Mélody Violton, Olga Bezukladova

Final Week to Apply: Enter your startup in the FoodTech World Cup 🏆 60 shortlisted startups will pitch in a Demo Day to a regional Jury of top-tier investors and experts, before the top 12 finalists pitch at the HackSummit. Let's make sure you're one of them. Recap the Jury from across 6 regions: 🌎 North America Steven Finn, Stephanie Dorsey, Sarah Al Sayadi, Steve Molino 🌍 Sub-Saharan Africa Hakeem A. Jimo, Abby Stern, Romain Diaz, Andrew Meredith, Maxime Bayen 🌏 APAC Jolene L., Mark Kahn, Ai Mey Chuah, Michal Klar, 🌍 Europe Bodil Sidén, Christian Guba, Ryan Grant Little, Susanne Steghoefer, Susana Reber 🌎 Latin America Matías Peire, Flávia Angella, DJ Lampitt, Camila Petignat, Ruben Altman 🌍 MENA Nader Amiri, Amir Zaidman, Gil Horsky, Mélody Violton, Olga Bezukladova Are you game? We're teaming up with Givaudan to put the most impactful AgriFoodTech startups in the spotlight… Let's make sure you're in the mix. Game ON. Enter the FoodTech World Cup today https://lnkd.in/dYQPYSqR