Burger King goes veggie in Singapore, SupPlant and Superplum get funding, and other morsels of the past week’s other agrifoodtech news from around the web, for your delectation. [Disclosure: AgFunder, which is AFN‘s parent company, is an investor in The Supplant Company and IntegriCulture.]
The Supplant Company launches products in the US for the first time (UK/US). The Cambridge-based startup produces lower-calorie, lower-glycemic response sugars from plant fibers. Its products will debut in several US restaurants run by seven Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller. (The Supplant Company)
SupPlant (no relation!) raises $10 million for its smart irrigation system aimed at smallholders (Israel). The round was co-led by Boresight Capital, the Menomadin Foundation, Smart-Agro Fund, and Mivtah Shamir. (SupPlant)
Better Juice nets $8 million seed funding (Israel). The startup’s enzymatic tech converts fructose, glucose, and sucrose into prebiotic dietary fibers, reducing up to 80% of all sugars found in orange juice. The round was led by iAngels. (Better Juice)
Pesticide-free produce platform Superplum closes $3.8 million pre-Series A round (India). The Noida-based startup, which sources fresh produce from farmers and sells it at retail, said it will use the funding to invest in infrastructure, personnel, and distribution. (YourStory)
Cloud kitchen startup 3 Square scores $1.2 million funding (Taiwan). Department store Hanshin and VC Foodland Ventures participated in the seed round. 3 Square will use the capital to accelerate its expansion throughout the Asia-Pacific region. (3 Square)
SupPlant and ClimaCell want to make precision agtech affordable for Asia’s poorest farmers – read more here
Geb Impact Technology gets government grant to grow algae-based meat alternative (Hong Kong). The capital secured under the Hong Kong Innovation & Technology Fund’s Enterprise Support Scheme will help the startup further develop its advanced fermentation tech. It has also joined the incubator program run by alt-protein investor Dao Foods. (Dao Foods)
Singaporean Burger King acolytes get plant-based Whopper option (Singapore/Netherlands/UK/US). The fast food chain has debuted a veggie version of its classic Whopper sandwich featuring a plant protein patty from Unilever‘s Vegetarian Butcher subsidiary – its first ‘plant-based’ menu item in the city-state. (Mothership)
Insect startup Volare raises $838,000 from MakiVC (Finland). The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland spin-out is using food production sidestreams and insects to produce proteins and oils for animal feed and other applications. It claims the round is Finland’s biggest-ever in the burgeoning insect sector. (Volare)
IntegriCulture unveils CulNet Consortium (Japan). The cell-cultured protein startup has formed a group with Chiyoda Corporation, House Foods, Nissan Chemical, and others to promote open innovation in the cellular ag space. (IntegriCulture)
