This week, Colossal Biosciences, the company trying to bring back the woolly mammoth, raised a whopping $200 million while NatureMetrics, a British startup in nature intelligence and biodiversity monitoring, closed a Series B round.
Outside of funding, quick-service restaurant chain Chipotle announced two new investments via its Cultivate Next arm and Syngenta launched a new partnership to speed up R&D for biologicals.
Startup Funding
🇺🇸 Colossal Biosciences raises $200m at $10.2b valuation to bring back woolly mammoths TechCrunch
🇩🇪 Formo secures $36m in venture debt funding to scale animal-free fermentation platform AgFunderNews
🇬🇧 NatureMetrics raises €24.3 m to develop biodiversity monitoring Eu Startups
🇸🇪 Swedish cleantech startup receives €22.5m EU funding to expand PFAS removal technology Arctic Startup
🇨🇦 Enhanced Medical Nutrition secures $5m Series A Private Capital Journal
🇲🇽 Mexican biogas producer Sistema.bio secures $3.5 m from Novastar Ventures to scale African renewable energy solution Techpoint Africa
🇺🇸 Robigo wins THRIVE program and secures investment from SVG Ventures THRIVE by SG Ventures
Image credit: Syngenta
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇮🇳 Varaha signs ‘landmark’ deal with Google to make smallholders part of the carbon removal solution AgFunder News
🇫🇷 Louis Dreyfus buys BASF’s food and health ingredients business Agriculture Dive
🇸🇮 Slovenian organic superfood producer Narayan Group to be acquired by Edible Garden Vegconomist
🇨🇳🇬🇧 Syngenta and TraitSeq team up to accelerate biostimulant R&D AgTech Navigator
🇺🇸 FMC Corporation restructures agtech VC arm FMC Ventures AgFunderNews
🇺🇸 Shiru launches global search for beverage partner to discover and scale natural sugar replacement with AI-powered ingredient discovery PR Newswire
Funds, grants & accelerators
🇦🇺 New Forests holds A$600m final close on ANZ Landscapes and Forestry Fund Agri Investor
🇺🇸 Chipotle’s Cultivate Next fund makes minority investments in Plantible and CH4 Global Chipotle [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in CH4 Global.]
🇨🇦 Bonnefield’s agribusiness fund holds C$80m second close Agri Investor
🇺🇸 Danone North America opens applications for annual gut microbiome, yogurt and probiotics fellowship grant PR Newswire
People moves
🇺🇸 Shake Shack appoints chief information and technology officer Restaurant Dive
🇺🇸 Hershey names new executives to oversee confection, salty snacks Food Dive
Other news
🇺🇸 Meati expands distribution, anticipates positive gross margins by the year end, says CEO AgFunderNews
🇮🇱 Plantopia turns to sprouted oats for cost-effective production of animal-free dairy AgFunderNews
🇦🇺 Cultivated meat startup Vow slices 25 jobs amid hunt for new funds Startup Daily
🇨🇦 Burcon unveils high-purity sunflower protein targeting weight management and F&B applications Vegconomist
🇳🇱 Netherlands invests in future of food with two cellular agriculture facilities IO Plus
🇬🇧 UK Parliament launches cultivated meat research project Alt-Meat
🇬🇧 2024 first year to pass 1.5 C° global warming limit BBC News
🇺🇸 FDA Issues Proposed Rule on Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling US Food and Drug Administration
🇮🇹🇺🇸 New Holland brings its first methane tractor to the US Lancaster Farming
🇺🇸 Nature’s Miracle Holding Inc. to be delisted from Nasdaq 8NewsNow
