This week, Danish startup Bactolife raised funds to develop gut microbiome-strengthening proteins and the UN’s FAO scooped up funding from the EU for its Sustainable Wildlife Management program. CPG giant Campbell made a new acquisition, as did irrigation management company Lindsay, and a new cultivated meat facility is ready for production in China.
Foodtech funding
๐ณ๐ฑ Meatable bags $35 million in a series B round led by Agronomics. The cultivated meat startup is readying the launch of its pork sausages and dumplings in Singapore next year. (AFN)
๐ฉ๐ฐ Bactolife raises โฌ30 million ($33 million) Series A to develop gut microbiome-strengthening proteins. ATHOS led the round with participation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation & others. (Pharmaceutical Technology)
๐จ๐ญ KetoSwiss secures โฌ4.4 million pre-Series A for its medical nutrition platform. The company will work on product development and getting to market with the new capital. (EU Startups)
๐ณ๐ฑ BeerMate, maker of automatic beer dispensing machines, raises โฌ1.4 million ($1.5 million). Notable investors include Tomorrowland festival founder Michiel Beers. (Tech.eu)
๐ฒ๐พ ๐จ๐ฑ Malaysia pharma giant Duopharma Biotech Berhad invests $1 million in The Live Green Co. Investment will go towards developing plant-powered pharmaceutical products and functional foods. (Vegconomist)
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟย MiAlgae secures capital from the Investbridge AgriTech fund to make sustainable omega-3s โon tapโ from microalgae. Terms of the deal are undisclosed at this time. (Cell)
Agtech funding
๐ช๐บ The United Nationsโ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) nabs โฌ25 million ($27 million) from the EU. FAO will scale up its Sustainable Wildlife Management program with the new investment. (FoodBev Media)
๐ฌ๐ง Matter raises $10 million to filter microplastics out of the food chain. S2G Ventures and Sound Ventures’ SOUNDWaves led the Series A round. (TechCrunch)
๐บ๐ธ Irrigation management startup GroGuru closes $2.3 million Seed A round. Cove Fund and Impact Venture Capital co-led the round. (FinSMEs)
๐ฌ๐ง Fieldwork Robotics raises ยฃ1.5 million ($1.9 million)from Elbow Beach Capital & others. Fieldwork will use the new capital to bring its raspberry harvesting robot Alpha to more farms. (UKTN)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
๐บ๐ธ Campbell Soup Co. to buy Rao sauce parent company Sovos for $2.7 billion. Campbell stated that it would not be changing the beloved sauce, addressing fan pushback over the deal. (Reuters)
๐บ๐ธ Irrigation systems company Lindsay acquires precision irrigation startup FieldWise. Financial terms of the deal are undisclosed. (Lindsay)
๐บ๐ธ Gene-editing startup Pairwise parters with retail broker R Squared Fresh Solutions. Via the partnership, Pairwise will release its CRISPR-edited greens under its Conscious Greens brand. (Yahoo Finance)
๐ฉ๐ฐ Biotech company Novozymes & Arla Foods Ingredients ink deal to produce proteins via fermentation. The companies say they’ll be able to produce at medical nutrition products industrial scale. (Food Ingredients First)
๐ฌ๐ง ๐จ๐ด Alt-palm oil maker Clean Food Group teams with Latin America foodtech company Alianza. The two will work to bring cost-competitive oil and fat alternatives to market. (FoodBev Media)
Other news
๐บ๐ธ Synthetic biology firm Amyris files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a US court and plans to sell its consumer brands to improve its liquidity position. Amyris has secured a $190 million financing commitment to support day-to-day operations. Its entities outside the US are not included in the bankruptcy proceedings. (Reuters)
๐ธ๐ฌ Umami Meats rebrands to Umami Bioworks. The cultivated seafood company said “a unified engineering approach would be needed to bring cultivated from promise to reality.” (Medium)
๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ธ Precision pollination startup BeeHero launches a new pollination insights platform. Growers can monitor bee activity outside the hive to optimize pollination for orchards, almonds and other crops. (AFN)
๐บ๐ธ Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown under fire after the alt-protein company posts grim Q2, 2023 results. Gross margins, which moved into negative territory last year, were just 2.2% in Q2, down from 6.7% in Q1. (AFN)
๐จ๐ณ CellX completes first pilot factory for cultivated meat. The company will apply for regulatory approval in Singapore and the US, with the aim to launch by 2025. (Green Queen)
