Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry leaving many farmers dependent on wholesale accounts without a place to sell harvests.
A shift in consumer habits in the region amid Covid-19 presents new opportunities for e-grocers, meal kit makers, and health-conscious food and drink brands.
Although VC funding is in short order, Covid-19’s new challenges create new opportunities for some agrifood tech startups to shine.
“We can’t oversimplify this into good vs evil. The democratization of nutrition is the next frontier of food. Proteins – which are necessary for all key human biological functions, including the musculo-skeletal system, the circulatory system, the pituitary system, and our overall health – will play a critical role in this democratization,” says Victor Friedberg announcing FoodShot’s latest focus area.
Products from Hong Kong’s Omnipork and Sweden’s Oatly will also debut at some of the coffee chain’s 3,500-plus stores throughout the country.
The startup is using analytical chemistry, optical spectroscopy, and machine learning to create a universal data-based language for evaluating food quality.
The food reformulation startup will use the funding to hire more scientists, build out tech infrastructure, and expand R&D capabilities internationally to combat metabolic disease with healthier food.
Moka, a Jakarta-based startup offering POS software for food merchants, could help the on-demand ‘super app’ build out its service offering to restaurants.
Gousto, a UK meal kit company, is seizing the moment either way; it has tapped its investors for an additional £33 million ($41 million) in a funding round led by Perwyn, BGF, MMC Ventures and the influencer and fitness guru Joe Wicks.
Agriculture has not been immune to the sweeping societal changes of the last two months as everyone adjusts to the Covid-19 virus. Here’s a high-level look at the impact from farm gate to consumer.
Hyperledger Fabric tech allowed the agribiz giants to settle a North America-Southeast Asia transaction that would normally take a month in just five hours.
While Covid-19 has made things worse for SoftBank investees, much of the loss can be ascribed to the already poor performance of companies across the Japanese firm’s portfolio.
Kadiwa ni Ani at Kita – a state-run marketplace linking farmers to consumers – is leveraging tech partnerships to go online for the first time during Covid-19.
For the Canadian startup, traceability and food safety are about finding correlations across the food system – and not just telling a product’s story.
Covid-19 has laid bare the region’s food supply chain problems. Collaboration between government and industry – often tech-based – will be key to solving them.
Trade Me – New Zealand’s answer to eBay – is listing livestock and feed on its auction platform after being registered as an ‘essential service’ provider.
Rebel Foods previously raised $125 million from Coatue, Goldman Sachs, Gojek, and Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick in its Series D round last year. It’s now expanding to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The ’30×30 Express’ grant program will fund local agrifood players – including urban farmers – who can increase domestic output of eggs, fish, and leafy vegetables.
This latest investment comes as the e-grocer faces mounting demand for its delivery services from a locked-down India.
The South Korean e-grocer claims to have introduced the first end-to-end e-commerce cold chain in the country, and almost trebled its registered users last year.
