Agtech’s big news this week was the emergence of US-based Zordi, which came out of stealth with its autonomous greenhouse tech. Over in foodtech, funding went to DAIZ for Japan’s ‘largest’ plant-based meat factory and a couple new developments for bugs.
Foodtech funding
๐ฏ๐ต DAIZ lands $47 million series C to build Japan’s “largest” plant-based meat factory. Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, Roquette and others participated in the round. (Green Queen)
๐ฑ๐บ Moolec Science raises $30 million in cash and in-kind contributions from strategic investors. Investment will fund R&D projects and Moolec’s commercialization plans for its molecular farming platform. (AgFunderNews)
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Beta Bugs secures ยฃ1.72 million to scale up insect protein production. The TRICAPITAL Syndicate led the round. (Scottish Enterprise)
๐ณ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ธ Tyson Foods makes undisclosed investment in insect protein startup Protix. The two will build a facility to produce insect protein for animal feed ingredients, aquaculture and pet food. (AgFunderNews)
Agtech funding
๐บ๐ธ Zordi emerges from stealth, announces $20 million funding from Khosla Ventures. Zordi specializes in autonomous greenhouses equipped with robotics. (Vertical Farm Daily)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
๐บ๐ธ General Mills and Walmart partner on regenerative ag. The collaboration will fund projects that accelerate adoption of regen ag on 600,000 acres by 2030. (Food Dive)
๐ณ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ง Alt-protein companies Vaess and Marlow Ingredients team up. The two will work together to develop protein alternatives made from mycoprotein. (Vegconomist)
๐บ๐ธ Farmers Business Network and ADM expand partnership on regenerative ag. FBN will help ADM expand its re:generations program to include more than 3,000 growers. (Business Wire)
๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ณ UfarmX partners expands to Senegal via partnership with The SEED Project. The latter’s 2,000 students will get hands-on experience with agtech via UfarmX’s blockchain platform for agriculture. (AgriTech Tomorrow)
๐บ๐ธ Walmart renews food waste partnership with environmental waste services company Denali. The companies will divert non-edible food from landfills for compost, feed animals and renewable energy. (Waste Dive)
Funds, grants & accelerators
๐บ๐ธ Virginia Tech gets $80 million to help farmers implement “smart-climate” practices. The program will serve as a pilot for a national model for farmers of all sizes. (AZO Cleantech)
๐บ๐ธ The DOE‘s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management will pump $35 million into carbon removal tech. The Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) Purchase Pilot Prize will enable winners to sell carbon dioxide removal credits directly to DOE. (AgFunderNews)
๐บ๐ธ Grain-trading platform Bushel receives $3.5 million grant to develop carbon-intensity reporting feature. The funding is part of the North Dakota Industrial Commission through the Clean Sustainable Energy program. (Bushel)
๐จ๐ญ Aquaculture waste cleanup startup N-ovatio-N wins ยฃ70,000 award. The Converge Challenge recognizes novel ideas that have high commercial potential. (The Fish Site)
๐บ๐ธ Greentech company AFYREN gets silver medal from social responsibility platform EcoVadis. AFYREN was ranked in the top 21% of companies out of more than 85,000 assessed worldwide. (Business Wire)
Other news
๐ฎ๐น Italy withdraws bill to ban cultivated meat. The EU bill proposed a ban on making or marketing cultivated meat and restricted terms used for describing plant-based meat. (Vegconomist)
๐บ๐ธ South Carolina gets legislative approval to build vertical farm at a women’s correctional facility. The $1.2 million project is expected to produce 48,000 pounds of lettuce per year. (Vertical Farm Daily)
๐ฆ๐บ Nourish shows off animal-free cooking fat at SXSW. The startup says its proprietary fat provides the distinct taste and aroma of traditional meat fats. (Business News Australia)
๐บ๐ธ Mars unveils new “net zero” roadmap. The CPG giant plans to half emissions by 2030, using a 2015 baseline, and be net zero by 2050. (Food Business News)
