Swedish foodtech company Nick’s, known for its keto-friendly ice cream, brought the biggest funding news of the week with its $100 million Series C round. Meanwhile, Twiga Foods closed a $50 million round while billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos pledged $2 billion to fight climate change at COP26.
Foodtech startup funding
🇸🇬 TurtleTree raises $30 million in Series A funding. VERSO Capital led the round. TurtleTree will use the money to move closer to commercialization of its cell-based dairy products through B2B partnerships. (AFN)
🇮🇳 LoveLocal gets $18 million. Vulcan Capital led the round, which brings hyper-local retail startup LoveLocal’s total funding to date to $30 million. (The Economic Times)
🇸🇪 Nick’s announces $100 million The new funds will go towards growth in the US and Europe, as well as developing new products beyond its sugar-free snacks and ice creams. (Reuters)
🇮🇳 CloudEats raises $5 million in Series A funding for its cloud kitchens. Singapore-based Vulpes Investment Management and Gobi-Core PH fund led the round, which also saw participation from Alibaba-backed BAce Capital, Intera Investments, GMA Ventures, and other angel investors. (Tech in Asia)
🇮🇳 Zepto nabs $60 million for its grocery delivery app. The 10-minute grocery delivery app was started in 2021 by two Stanford University dropouts, and is currently valued at “between $200 million and $300 million,” according to the company’s CEO. (India Times)
🇮🇳 Vilcart Solutions raises $2 million in pre-Series A funding. Nabventures led the round for Vilcart, which connects rural Kiranas/customers with consumer brands and manufacturers. (VCCircle)
🇺🇸 Martie gets $3 million to rescue pantry staples. Food waste mitigation startup Martie officially entered the US market with its food rescue e-commerce platform. (TechCrunch)
🇮🇳 TTSF Cloud One raises $5.3 million. The multi-brand cloud kitchen’s seed round was led by Brand Capital and will go towards tech infrastructure and building out more food brands. (VCCircle)
🇰🇪 Twiga Foods raises $50 million for Africa expansion. The food distribution startup hopes to help in fixing fragmented retail food markets across the continent. (NASDAQ)
🇺🇸 Robo-delivery startup Nuro raises $600 million from Google, Kroger. Nuro and Google said their new relationship will allow them to “explore opportunities together to strengthen and transform local commerce.” (AFN)
Agtech startup funding
🇮🇩 Aquatech startup DELOS announces undisclosed seed funding. The Indonesian company’s software can forecast and make recommendations for shrimp farm productivity and profitability. (The Fish Site)
🇦🇪 UAE indoor farmer Pure Harvest nets $65 million to fund Asia expansion. The company also announced the formation of a joint venture with PlanTFarm, a South Korean provider of tech solutions to the vertical farming industry that has also received investment from IMM.
🇺🇸 Shenandoah Growers rebrands as Soli Organic. The company struck a million financing arrangement with real estate development firm Decennial Group.to build more indoor soil-based farms. (AFN)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇬🇧 🇦🇺 University of Nottingham expands its International Flavour Research Centre (IFRC) to Australia. The new $2.5 million facility will be at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus in South Australia and develop new sustainable food options. (University of Nottingham)
Funds & accelerators
🇺🇸 Byron Bay VC fund ReGen Ventures closes a $50 million fund. The global fund is aimed at early-stage companies working on “restoring the planet and restoring human health.” (SmartCompany)
🇹🇭 Insect protein company Orgafeed secures Thai Union funding. Orgafeed – which participated in the Thai Union-backed SPACE-F foodtech accelerator in 2019 – will collaborate with company’s pet care division, i-Tail. (AFN)
Other news
🇺🇸 Hero Labs launches its first alt-bread product. The foodtech company has unveiled a sandwich roll the company says looks and tastes like real bread but has an improved nutritional profile. A partnership with sandwich chain Subway is in the works. (BusinessWire)
🇸🇬 🇯🇵 Foodtech company CRUST Group expands to Japan. New strategic partnerships will focus on developing upcycled products in Japan and joining forces with more retail and foodservice businesses. (CRUST Group) [ Disclosure: CRUST Group participated in the GROW accelerator. GROW is backed by AFN’s parent company, AgFunder.]
🇺🇸 Nature’s Fynd is building 200,000-square-foot production facility in Chicago, Illinois. The alt-protein company also plans to start selling its cream cheese and sausage analogues in select Chicago grocery stores. (Food Dive)
🇺🇸 Imperfect Foods becomes Certified B Corp. Food rescue/redistribution platform Imperfect Foods says it is one of the first grocers to become certified B Corp. (Food Navigator)
🇺🇸 Jeff Bezos pledges $2 billion to the environment. The Amazon founder said at COP26 that the funding, which will come from the Bezos Earth Fund, will help restore nature and strengthen food system. (CNBC)
Sponsored
International Fresh Produce Association launches year 3 of its produce accelerator