Plus: alt-cheesemakers raise new funds, delivery ‘bots head to college campuses, and IKEA strikes a deal with indoor ag startup Infarm.
General Mills invested $3 million more into regen ag, Lunchbox acquired another restaurant ordering platform, and Cox delved deeper into indoor farming.
Elsewhere, US ag robotics specialist FarmWise teased a new weeding implement along with its latest fundraise.
Multiple restaurant tech startups made headlines this week; while a massive, multinational carbon initiative got off the ground in Africa.
Alt-protein producers raised several early-stage rounds for meat and dairy alternatives, while two more countries approved the sale of GMO wheat.
Mashgin builds contactless self-checkout machines; while Absolute is vertically integrating the ag value chain. Elsewhere, Brightseed banked $68 million.
“Instant delivery” e-grocer Zepto got closer to unicorn status with its Series D round, while VitroLabs raised funds for its cell-cultured animal leather.
Elsewhere, the Gates Foundation and Qatar’s development fund pledged $200 million to help African smallholders with climate change adaptation.
Beewise aims to save the world’s bee population with robotic beehives; while Arzeda creates enzymes for use in food, personal, and homecare products.
Over in the US, meanwhile, The Every Company launched the world’s first chickenless egg white.
Elsewhere, Plantish scored $12 million for plant-based fish – and Mzansi Meat unveiled ‘Africa’s first’ cultivated beef burger.
Clean Crop Technologies closed a round for crop protection tools and Protenga nabbed capital for its insect farming operations.
Starship’s delivery bots move into new markets, Source.ag aims to make greenhouses smarter, and cultivated meat arrives at Singapore’s hawker stalls.
Vertical farming and alt-protein saw sizable financings this week, with companies like GrowUp Farms, Novameat, and Wildtype closing significant rounds.
Equip scored $58 million while Tindle parent company Next Gen Foods raised the largest Series A round to date for plant-based protein.
Protix bagged big bucks this week for its insect protein; while Cooks Venture secured capital to breed slower-growing chickens.
Meanwhile, it has been forecast that the plant-based protein sector needs to invest $27 billion in production capacity by 2030 to meet demand.
US hospitality software provider Flipdish raised $100 million in a Tencent-led round, while UK indoor farming startup Vertical Future scored $29 million.
Remilk was one of a bevvy of agrifoodtech startups to close funding rounds above or around the $100 million mark this week.
Elsewhere, soil-sensing company Stenon raised $20 million and John Deere showed off its first commercially available autonomous tractor.
