Beyond Meat announced this week it will cut 19% of its workforce after a weak third quarter. In agtech, sustainable materials company Fibmold raised funds for a plastic alternative and Bioomix announced a raise for its microbial ag solutions. Plus: Athian and Elanco Animal Health team up to reduce methane emissions and Doritos is on a mission to silence its chips.
Foodtech funding
🇺🇸 Biotech startup Triplebar raises $20 million to expand its biomanufacturing platform. Synthesis Capital led the round with participation from Essential Capital, Stray Dog Capital and others. (AgFunderNews)
🇳🇱 In Ovo banks €40 million ($42 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The company will expand its technology that determines the sex of hatching eggs and makes culling day-old male chicks unnecessary. (AgFunderNews)
Agtech funding
🇮🇳 Fibmold secures $10 million from Omnivore, Accel. Fibmold manufactures moulded fiber packaging as an alternative to single-use plastics. (Inc42)
🇲🇽 Agrifintech startup Verqor bags $7.5 million to connect more farmers with credit options. Funding includes a $4 million pre-Series A led by Yara Growth Ventures and a $3.5 million debt round from Co_Capital and Addem Capital. (AgFunderNews)
🇩🇰 Bioomix raises €6.3 million ($6.7 million) to develop natural, microbial products for agriculture, food and health. West Hill Capital led the round. (Arctic Startup)
🇩🇪 Tupu rakes in $3.2 million to scale up indoor farming systems for mushrooms. FoodLabs and Zubi Capital co-led the company’s seed round. (Green Queen)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇺🇸 Animal health biotech company BiomEdit gets $4.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The two will develop microbiome-based solutions that reduce methane emissions cattle in Africa and Asia. (AgFunderNews)
🇺🇸 DPH Biologicals, University of Illinois partner on crop residue management. The two announced research to progrdss the impact of biologicals on decomposition of crop residue on high-yield US farms. (CropLife)
Funds, grants & accelerators
🇸🇬 Agrifood investor VisVires New Protein (VVNP) rebrands as Clay Capital, closes new fund. The $145 million Fund II will back food-focused startups in Europe, Israel, and Asia. (AgFunderNews)
🇺🇸 John Deere Foundation to award $19 million in grants aimed at boosting food access and smallholder farmers. Recipients include World Food Program USA, the One Acre Fund and The Nature Conservancy. (PR Newswire)
🇺🇸 $8.5 million in funding restored for US agriculture, including indoor farms. Initially, neither the Senate nor House agriculture appropriations bills included dedicated funding for the Office of Urban Agriculture. (Vertical Farm Daily)
🇺🇸 Athian and Elanco Animal Health team up to tackle methane reduction. The former announced a new carbon marketplace for livestock insetting leveraging feed management products from Elanco. (Elanco)
Other news
🇺🇸 Beyond Meat is cutting 19% of its non-production workforce. The layoffs come after the plant-based meat company reported a weaker-than-expected third quarter. (AP News)
🇺🇸 Shuttered vertical farm startup Fifth Season files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. The company, which closed its doors a year ago, owes roughly $50 million in liabilities. (Pittsburgh Inno)
🇺🇸 Doritos uses AI tech to ‘silence’ the crunch of its chips. The new software is aimed at “gamers annoyed by the sound from other players.” (Food Dive)
🇨🇭 Nestlé adds three new vegan white fish products to lineup in Asia, Europe. Products include “fillets” and “nuggets” as well as “fish-free fingers.” (Green Queen)
🇺🇸 FDA proposes ban on brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in food. The agency finds that “intended use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe” after studies conducted with the National Institute of Health. (FDA)
🇺🇸 Benson Hill transfers ownership of Indiana crush facility for $36 million. The deal is part of Benson Hill’s “liquidity improvement plan” to make cost and operational improvements. (Benson Hill)
Sponsored
International Fresh Produce Association launches year 3 of its produce accelerator