The week in agrifoodtech: Plant-based salmon reels in $12m, new funding for ag robots, Impossible layoffs

This week, Canada’s New School Foods snagged seed funding for its whole-cut plant-based salmon. In agtech, BloomX secured funding for its pollination tech and E-Terry for its farm robot. Meanwhile, KFC struck a deal to put robots in its kitchens.

Foodtech funding

🇨🇦 New School Foods nets $12 million for whole-cut plant-based salmon. Lever VC, Blue Horizon and others led the seed round, which will help build a pilot facility. (Protein Report)

🇦🇺 Wholesale hospitality marketplace FoodByUs grabs $12 million AUD ($9 million) Series B. Base Capital led the round with support from FJ Labs and Trawalla Group. (Startup Daily)

🇺🇸 Precision fermentation company Michroma raises $6.4 million oversubscribed seed round. Supply Change Capital led the round with participation from Be8 Ventures, CJ CheilJedang and others. (AFN)

🇧🇷 Online grocer Diferente bags $3 million to make healthy foods easier to get. Caravela Capital led the round with participation from Collaborative Fund and two new funds. (TechCrunch)

🇮🇳 Superfood brand Nourish You secures $2 million in seed funding. The company will invest the new capital into R&D for new products. (Deal Street Asia)

🇯🇵 🇲🇾 B2B farm-to-table fulfillment platform Secai Marche lands $1.6 million Series A. The Agribusiness Investment and Consultation Co. led the round with Beyond Next Ventures and others. (Vulcan Post)

🇺🇸 Anne Hathaway invests undisclosed amount into The Every Company. Actress Hathaway joins the likes of Temasek and Grosvenor in backing the precision fermentation startup. (Green Queen)

Agtech funding

🇮🇩 Food distribution startup EdenFarm scoops up $13.5 million bridge round. Telkomsel Mitra Inovasi (TMI) led the round with participation from AC Ventures and AppWorks. (Tech in Asia)

🇮🇱 BloomX secures $8 million for pollination tech. It’s AI and EV-based system aims to replicate the natural pollination process for plants. (TechCrunch)

🇬🇧 Insect farming startup Entocycle raises $5 million in Series A. Climentum Capital led the round with participation from Lowercarbon Capital, Teampact Ventures and others. (AFN)

🇵🇭 Farm and fisheries marketplace Mayani secures $1.7 million seed round. AgFunder’s Singapore-based Grow Impact Fund led the round. (AFN)

🇳🇱 Kind Technologies raises undisclosed growth round from Avedon Capital Partners. Kind provides industrial automation, robotics, AI and other technologies for greenhouse horticulture. (Horti Daily)

🇩🇪 Ag robotics startup E-TERRY closes undisclosed round “in the seven-figure range.” VC firm beteiligungsmanagement thüringen led the investment. (AgReads)

M&A, IPOs & partnerships

🇦🇪 🇸🇦 Pure Harvest enters agreement with Saudi Arabia’s National Agricultural Development Company (Nadec). Pure Harvest will design, construct and operate hybrid food production systems for the project. (Gulf Business)

🇮🇱 🇺🇸 Ag analytics company CropX acquires precision irrigation startup Tule Technologies. The deal will provide CropX with additional crop data and insights to bake into its farm recommendations platform. (AFN)

🇺🇸 Farmers Business Network parters with Boveta Nutrition. The two will launch a proprietary feeding system for beef cattle to reduce feed costs. (FBN)

🇺🇸 🇫🇷 Bayer partners with M2i Group on crop protection. Through the deal, Bayer will be the exclusive distributor of M2i’s pheromone-based biologicals. (Bayer)

🇺🇸 🇸🇦 AeroFarms & the Public Investment Fund (PIF) will build vertical farms in Saudi Arabia and MENA. The joint venture plans to build and operate several farms across the region in the next few years. (AeroFarms)

🇯🇵 🇺🇸 Quick-service restaurant chain KFC signs development deal with robotics company TechMagic. The two will build a robot for Japan KFC locations that automates the process of cooking french fries. (The Spoon)

🇰🇪 🇳🇱 Solynta and FreshCrop to collaborate on hybrid potato innovation in Kenya. The partnership addresses the country’s shortage of disease-free potato starting material. (Solynta)

Other news

🇺🇸 “Better-for-you” cereal brand Magic Spoon expands retail launch to 6,800 stores. Its lineup of cereals are available at Target, Walmart and other big-box stores in the US. (Food Dive)

🇺🇸 Impossible Foods to lay off 20% of workers. The new round of cuts, which follows one from October, could impact more than 100 workers. (Bloomberg)

🇪🇸 Glovo lays off 250 employees. The food delivery service said cuts were part of downsizing due to inflation and lowered customer purchasing power. (Silicon Canals)

🇺🇸 Spice company McCormick & Co is “streamlining” its workforce. Layoffs and voluntary retirements come after disappointing fourth quarter sales. (Food Navigator)

🇺🇸 Oatly adds climate-footprint labels to dairy alternative packaging in the US. The label is on four of Oatly’s products now, with another 12 planned by 2025. (Fast Company)

🇳🇱 🇺🇸 CEA firm Growy acquires Kalera‘s international business. The deal includes all of Kalera International’s IP, assets and core team. (AFN)