Ag Industry Brief: GrubHub Buys Eat24 for $288m, Mealkit IPO All Over Again, $3.2m Goes to Maize Research, more

Danforth Lands $3.4 million Grant For Maize Research

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center has been granted $3.4 million over five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the productivity of maize. The project led by Andrea Eveland, Ph.D., assistant member at the Danforth Center, will develop novel methods for predicting a plant’s phenotype from its genetic code and manipulating plant architecture traits in maize that enhance yield potential. More here.

GrubHub Buys Eat24 From Yelp

Digital restaurant marketplace GrubHub announced that it will buy competitor Eat24 from review site Yelp for $288 million in cash. This sum is double what Yelp bought the business for in 2015. GrubHub and Yelp have also worked out a five-year partnership integrating GrubHub ordering capability into Yelp’s restaurant listings. Yelp will receive a fee when a user places an order through its site. More here.

Resy Buys Servy

Restaurant operations software platform Resy has acquired mystery shopping, feedback, and market research platform Servy for an undisclosed amount. In a blog post, ResY cofounder Ben Leventhal, also a cofounder of Eater.com, said the two platforms would be fully integrated by the end of this year. More here.

HelloFresh Prepares to Go Public

Blue Apron’s international competitor HelloFresh has announced that it will list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, aiming for proceeds of $294 million to $353 million, which would likely bring the company’s valuation to $1.8 billion. This is below the last private market valuation of €2 billion ($2.37 billion). According to HelloFresh, the company brought in €435 million ($514 million) in revenue in the first half of this year. In that time, the company lost nearly €57 million ($67 million). Blue Apron had $483 million in revenue and $84 million in losses for the same timeframe.

Farmers Edge Becomes Sole Ag Distributor for Planet Satellite

Farmers Edge, a precision agriculture decision support platform, has become a sole distributor of Planet Satellite content with the right to use and distribute high-resolution, high-frequency imagery from Planet’s three flagship satellite constellations, for agricultural purposes in 19 countries. Farmers Edge and Planet are maintaining the delivery of content to short-term and pre-existing agricultural customers of Planet. Any new orders, expansions, renewals and all other contract changes will be established and managed directly by Farmers Edge. More here. 

Cannabis Group Grupo Flor Hires CEO

Salinas, CA-based cannabis group Grupo Flor has hired Paul Henderson as its new chief executive officer. Prior to joining Grupo Flor, Henderson served as the chief financial officer at Indus Holding Company, a cannabis manufacturer. Prior to Indus, Henderson served as the worldwide financial services manager at Apple. More here. 

Other News That’s Fit to Chew

• Modern Farmer reports on the damage historic wildfires in Sonoma County, California are having on the region’s wine and cannabis crops.
• San Francisco is requiring meat producers to reveal antibiotic use in a way that could affect more than just the Bay Area, reports The Washington Post.
• Are you ready for a drone to make a delivery directly into your hands? International Business Times explains how.
• Some seafood available for purchase in the US may be supporting the North Korean regime, reports ABC News.
• McDonald’s is testing out a vegan burger in a few of its Finland locations for a limited time, according to The HuffingtonPost.
• Here’s what a cultured meat Chinese food restaurant menu would look like, from Quartz.
• Eating beans over beef is better for the environment, but so is eating chicken or pork, says The Washington Post.