Midweek Digest: SupPlant & Superplum raise funds, Burger King goes veggie in Singapore

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)