This week — the last before the AgFunderNews team takes a holiday break — saw several announcements for new funds and grants, including a $300 million first close for New Forests fund and the proposed €50 million ($55 million) the European Union wants to channel into alternative protein investment. But not all of the EU is onboard, it seems. Also this week, lawmakers in France proposed a ban on cultivated meat, with some referring to it as “junk food.”
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Agtech & foodtech funding news
🇺🇸 NewLeaf Symbiotics bags another $45m to bring its ‘new class of microbial amendments’ to more row crops AgFunderNews
🇪🇪 Tallinn-based Arbonics gets €5.5 million to build the highest-quality forest carbon platform to fight climate change EU Startups
🇺🇸 Nexus Development Capital Adds Carbon Removal to Growing Portfolio with a $5M Investment in Maine-based Standard Biocarbon PR Newswire
🇺🇸 🇧🇷 Deep Agro raises $2M for AI-based agtech expansion to Brazil and the US Latamlist
🇭🇺 Food saving app Munch anounces Series A funding Tech.eu
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇺🇸 Loveland Products and Ascribe team up to launch biofungicides for U.S. row crops Crop Life
🇺🇸 Terviva Announces Strategic Partnership With Mitsubishi Corporation NewsWire
🇺🇸 Bushel expands ERP partnership network with integration of Oakland Corporation’s FarmerData Feed & Grain
🇺🇸 Highlander Partners announces acquisition of Fuerst Day Lawson Holdings Ltd Highlander Partners
Funds, grants & accelerators
🇦🇺 New Forests makes first close of ANZ-focused forestry fund at over $300m Deal Street Asia
🇪🇺 The EU invests €50M to help startups scale up alternative proteins Tech.eu
🇺🇸 Springdale Ventures closes $40m fund for early-stage consumer brands: ‘As investors, we’re here to help remove obstacles’ AgFunderNews
🇺🇸 $11M grant aims to develop scions and rootstocks to fight HLB The Packer
🇪🇸 Libre Foods wins €335K grant to pioneer low-cost mycelium for meat alternatives Vegconomist
🇺🇸 Brightseed receives grant to improve EED outcomes in undernourished mothers Nutraceuticals World [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in Brightseed.]
🇪🇺 HYDROCOW’s $6m project to make whey protein from CO2 & hydrogen: ‘It’s high-risk, high-reward’ AgFunderNews
🇬🇧 Fieldwork wins government grant to accelerate £1.1m BerryBot project Fieldwork Robotics
People moves
🇺🇸 Dustin Sapp Named CEO of Traction Ag Crop Life
🇺🇸 Local Bounti replaces CEO after 6 months as the indoor farming company restructures Food Dive
🇺🇸 TRACT appoints Allison Kopf as new CEO Vertical Farm Daily
Other news
🇹🇼 🇹🇷 Delivery Hero closes hubs in Taiwan, Turkey in push to cut costs Bloomberg
🇳🇱 Dutch startup Pieter Pot declared bankrupt: All you need to know Silicon Canals
🇩🇪 ‘Blending tradition and innovation’: Senara emerges from stealth as Europe’s first cultured dairy startup Green Queen
🇫🇷 French parliamentarians propose law to ban cultivated meat, calling it “junk food” Vegconomist
Sponsored
International Fresh Produce Association launches year 3 of its produce accelerator