The Week in AgriFoodTech: Ag marketplace Vegrow lands $46m, Yara acquires fertilizer business, Chipotle invests in ag robotics
Plus: ProfilePrint raises Series B funding & Vow gets a regulatory nod for cultivated quail.
Plus: ProfilePrint raises Series B funding & Vow gets a regulatory nod for cultivated quail.
Some 28 leading agrifoodtech investors responded to AgFunderNews’ annual VC survey
As part of GROW’s 2024 program, which kicks off in April, 10 founders will receive a $100k cash investment from AgFunder, introductions to its global network of co-investors, and mentorship and support from Singapore-based agrifoodtech accelerator, GROW, over a five-month period.
Food delivery is not the only restaurant tech category out there, but it’s been the most prominent over the last decade.
The UMAMI/Cell AgriTech facility in Malaysia—the first phase of which is set to come online in Q1, 2025—has a projected annual output of 3,000+ tons (6 million pounds) of cultivated meat/seafood.
Milano Vice scoops up $9 million for pizza delivery and Clever Carnivore raises $7 million for cultivated pork.
Meatiply’s focus on the production of complex value-added compounds using animal cells will allow it to create cultivated meat products with added health benefits, claims the startup.
Personalized nutrition co Bioniq has three core customers, says Vadim Fedotov: “Females aged 35+ interested in prevention. Fitness enthusiasts who love their Apple watches and gadgets. And consumers aged 50+, where it becomes more of a longevity support system.”
An online auction for the assets of Florida-based Lemnature AquaFarms—which produced proteins and fibers from fast-growing aquatic plant lemna (a.k.a. duckweed)—will be held on Dec 12.
As COP28 kicks off, other agrifoodtech news includes fundraises for aquatech startups and new stats about agriculture emissions.
Pea milk maker Ripple Foods has raised $49m in a new round according to an SEC filing, taking its cumulative funding to more than $274m.
Liberation Labs has secured a $25m government-backed loan to support its first commercial-scale precision fermentation facility in the US.
Investors were pushing cultivated meat startups “to grow as quick and as big as possible while the technologies were not yet mature enough,” says Aleph Farms CEO Didier Toubia.
Climate action levels remain “half baked” for 44% of the 83 companies examined in a new analysis by climate intelligence platform CarbonCloud.
Food security is top of mind in Singapore, which imports most of its food, but are policymakers connecting it to climate change?
Plus, sugar refiner Nordzucker will invest more than $100 million into plant-based proteins.
Entobel says it will demonstrate that “it’s possible to produce industrial volumes of insect protein at a competitive cost… and we expect this factory will be profitable early next year.”
With sales declining, gross margins in negative territory, and debts of $1.1bn, what’s next for Beyond Meat?
From more efficient wastewater treatment to higher yields in hydroponics, nanobubbles are gaining traction in food and ag, claims Moleaer.
One of a small, but high-profile group of startups attempting to decouple food production from agricultural land, Solar Foods uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen instead of sugars to feed its bacteria.
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International Fresh Produce Association launches year 3 of its produce accelerator