Several biomaterials startups made headlines with fundraises, partnerships and other developments for leather, wood and oil alternatives.
Meanwhile, vertical farm Kalera gets delisting notice from Nasdaq and Australian eGrocer Milkrun shuts down after just 18 months of operation.
Digital burger delivery service VICIO scored a fresh round of funding and CPG giant Danone invested in cultivated breast milk startup Wilk.
Through a novel patent-pending process, ARC Ento Tech is turning waste into animal feeds, fertilizers and a reductant that could replace coking coal.
Indoor mushroom startup Smallhold expanded thanks to a retail partnership with Sprouts, while reservations platform OpenTable partnered with ChatGTP.
Australian startup Cauldron has raised AUS $10.5m to scale a platform enabling firms to produce high-value ingredients via precision fermentation more efficiently via a continuous process.
Sugar-eating microbes dominate industrial fermentation today. But algae will be the “predominant biomanufacturing platform of tomorrow,” predicts Australian startup Provectus Algae, which is unlocking the potential of photosynthetic algae to make high-value ingredients.
Singapore’s Next Gen Foods acquired an alt-dairy startup, while agtech funding this week was all about ecosystem restoration projects.
A US patent recently granted to Perfect Day— the highest-profile startup in the ‘animal-free’ dairy field—has been challenged by an anonymous petitioner
Impossible Foods and others are cutting staff, while Finland approves the term “burger patty” for plant-based meat marketing.
Funga is “rewilding” forest microbiome to grow more trees and McDonald’s & Beyond Meat test a new plant-based product in Germany.
SwarmFarm combines autonomous vehicles with an open network to help farmers customize equipment based on their individual needs.
APAC’s premier agrifoodtech event evokeAG brings investors, innovators and others together to address some of the biggest challenges of our time.
Australia-based Loam Bio’s microbial seed inoculum could help farmers store more carbon in the ground and more easily enter carbon markets.
Chipotle tests robotic makelines in its restaurants and Barcelona follows other European cities banning dark stores for quick commerce.
Fable’s meaty mushroom products are minimally processed and clean label with all natural ingredients, a boon amid growing controversy about the alternative meat industry.
The Covid-19 pandemic had a clear impact on brick & mortar restaurants and retailers, forcing them to innovate to stay afloat, so while globally there was a dip in investment during 2020, it soon picked up in 2021 as these stores adjusted to a new normal that forced many of them to digitize.
“You can’t change how meat eaters eat by making the same thing they already consume,” says cultivated meat startup Vow’s founder George Peppou.
New School Foods, E-TERRY, BloomX and many other agrifoodtech startups raised funds this week, even as food and ag industry layoffs continue.
Creating sustainable meat means developing more than just the same old chicken and beef analogues, says Vow’s CEO and cofounder.
