This week, climate tech startup Andes bagged funding for its carbon removal technology, plant-based meat maker THIS announced Series B funding and Immi raised funds for plant-based ramen. In the world of ag data, two infrastructure providers announced products with two of the world’s largest cloud providers.
Agtech funding
🇺🇸 Climate tech startup Andes completes $30 million Series A. Voyager VC, Yamaha Motor Ventures, Leaps by Bayer and others participated. (PR Newswire)
🇸🇬 Full-stack agtech platform Agros nets $2.7 million pre-Series A to scale. The round was led by Gaia Impact Fund and Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia. (Food Beverage Asia)
🇳🇱 Female-led Agurotech cultivates €1.5 million ($1.5 million) to cultivate sustainable farming with data insights. The company plans to scale production in 2023. (EU Startups)
🇺🇸 Crop genomics company genXtraits raiess funding for its IP library. The company’s catalogue includes technologies that can enable genetic control of plant traits. etic control of plant traits. (Businesswire)
Foodtech funding
🇬🇧 Plant-based meat startup THIS bags £15 million ($18 million) Series B. The startup hinted at a possible international expansion of its products. (Vegconomist)
🇺🇸 Touch Capital leads $10 million Series A for Immi. Funding will enable Immi to “further improve the quality” of its plant-based instant ramen products. (Green Queen)
🇺🇸 Odyssey Elixer raises $6.3 million Series A. The company will use the funds to expand distribution for its “functional mushroom” infused energy drinks. (FoodBev Media)
🇮🇱 MeatAfora lands $5 million for for cultivated meat platform that uses vegetable fat. New Gate Capital led the round. (Vegconomist)
🇺🇸 Female-owned biotech startup Timat Sciences lands $2 million seed extension. 8090 Industries led the round for the startup’s plant molecular farming tech. (PR Newswire)
🇺🇸Fine-dining meals delivery platform Entrée announces $2.5 million in pre-seed funding. The deal, closed last month, was led by M25. (Techcrunch)
🇬🇧 Personalized nutrition company Zoe raises €2.3 million ($2.44 million) from Steven Bartlett’s Flight Fund. The funding will go into scaling beyond the US and UK. (EU Startups)
🇫🇷 B2B beverage supplier Sensaterra lands €1 million ($1 million) to scale. Investment came from existing investors including serial entrepreneur Denis Fayolle. (EU Startups)
🇳🇿 Women-led Daisy Lab closes a NZD $1.5 million ($930,000) seed raise for microbial whey protein for alt dairy. The Values Trust, Icehouse Ventures and Outset Ventures led the round. (Green Queen)
🇺🇸 Cerebelly, a producer of baby food designed for cognitive development closes an oversubscribed Series A. The funds will boost product development, marketing, digital presence and retail growth. (PR Newswire)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇺🇸 Alt-seafood producer BlueNalu and animal feed producer Nutreco strike third agreement. The two aim to bring down cell feed costs through the setting up food-grade supply chain infrastructure for cultured seafood. (Businesswire)
🇺🇸 Food and ag analysis equipment company KPM Analytics acquires ag vision system manufacturer Smart Vision Works. KPM says the acquisition will boost its data and tech offerings across markets. (FoodBev Media)
🇮🇱 🇨🇱 Crop protection company ADAMA acquires remaining 40% stake in ADAMA Chile. The move will increase ADAMA’s presence in the biological solutions market. (Agribusiness Global)
🗺️ Formo, Better Dairy, Imagindairy & others launch Food Fermentation Europe. The group will address issues from labeling and nomenclature for “animal-free” proteins to capacity challenges. (AFN)
🇺🇸 Bayer and Microsoft formalize partnership. The two are creating cloud-based data tools and data science solutions for the food and agriculture industry. (AFN)
🇺🇸 Data infrastructure startup Leaf launches its farm data API on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. Leaf customers can use AWS to speed up product development and time to market. (EIN News)
Other news
🇺🇸 US legislatives revive the Plant Biostimulant Act to streamline regulatory approval and research. The move is aimed at making innovations accessible and encourage their adoption in the sustainable agriculture industry. (House.gov)
🇮🇱 Plantae Bioscience deploys CRISPR gene editing to slash levels of bitter-tasting saponins in yellow peas. The breakthrough “should lead to significantly improved taste in pea protein,” says the company. (AFN)
🇪🇸 Scientists voice concern over plans for the world’s first octopus farm. The farm intends to produce 1 million octopuses annually, but scientists say the intensive farming and slaughtering method is cruel. (BBC)
🇺🇸 Melibio launches plant-based honey under the brand Mellody. The foodtech says there has been little innovation in honey despite an increase in plant-based food innovation and surging honey sales in the US. (Newswires)
🇺🇸 Shiru unveils plant-based fat alternative. The patent-pending OleoPro “looks and behaves like animal fat,” without its ethical or environmental impact, says the company. (AFN)
