Kenyan agri-insurance firm Pula recently made headlines with a $20 million raise that will help more smallholders around the world secure their crops. Also this week: VC firm SOSV closed a new fund for deep tech and planetary health, and Swiss cleantech startup Bcomp raised new funds.
Meanwhile, plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods has big plans for a cattle ranch. . .
Foodtech funding
🇺🇸 Ketones will fuel the next generation of energy drinks, say ex-Pepsi & Coke execs behind KEY, as AgFunder leads $4m seed round AgFunderNews [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in KEY.]
🇩🇪 Berlin-based Cultimate Foods raises €2.3 million to deliver meaty flavors while cutting down on intensive farming EU Startups
🇫🇷 Edonia Raises €2M to Redefine plant-based alternatives with umami-powered ingredients from microalgae Vegconomist
Agtech funding
🇰🇪 Pula raises $20M Series B to provide agricultural insurance to farmers in Africa, Asia and LatAm TechCrunch
🇳🇱 Amsterdam-based agtech startup Meridia raises €5.2M Silicon Canals
Climate tech funding
🇨🇭 Swiss cleantech startup Bcomp secures €37M to accelerate mobility decarbonisation with bio-based materials Silicon Canals
🇬🇧 Treefera raises $12M in series A funding FinSMEs
🇩🇪 Goodcarbon secures €5.25 million for global expansion Of nature-based solutions assets Forbes
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇮🇹 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 Agritech xFarm Technologies merges with Greenfield and Spacesense to hone its Geospatial AI Tech.eu
🇺🇸 Leanpath and Galley Solutions announce integration to drive faster, more precise food waste reduction PR Newswire
🇺🇸 Shake Shack expands partnership on carbon neutral whole milk QSR Magazine
🇲🇽 🇧🇷 Mexico’s Verqor and Brazil’s Traive partner, plan new product to bring more AI to agrifinance AgFunderNews
Funds, grants & accelerators
🇺🇸 SOSV closes $306M deep tech fund for human and planetary health PR Newswire
🇺🇸 Vertical Harvest Farms secures $59.5m from the USDA Loan Guarantee, C-PACE Funding and Project Financing Indoor AgTech
🇸🇪 Mycorena receives funding From European Space Agency to develop food for space missions Vegconomist
People moves
🇺🇸 FarmTogether welcomes David Gould as managing director, head of capital formation PR Newswire
🇺🇸 Instacart taps CPG veteran for board Grocery Dive
🇺🇸 ADM CFO to resign as company faces US government investigation Reuters
🇺🇸 Phospholutions Inc. appoints research and development vice president Dr. Krishna Maruvada, to propel sustainable fertilizer technology Phospholutions
Other news
🇺🇸 Impossible Foods converts a cattle ranch to make meat ‘the new way’ AdWeek
🇱🇺 Moolec becomes first molecular farming company to achieve USDA approval for plant-grown animal proteins Newswire
🇺🇸 Mars invests in food-focused startups to accelerate sustainability Agriculture Dive
🇺🇸 Bill proposing legal immunity for pesticide manufacturers advances Crop Life
🇬🇭 Ghana: Scientists turn to digital data to save virus-hit chocolate supply Agtech Navigator
🇺🇸 Futureproofing your Morning Joe? Atomo opens ‘beanless’ coffee roastery in Seattle AgFunderNews [Disclosure: AgFunder, parent company to AgFunderNews, is an investor in Atomo.]
Sponsored
Sponsored post: The innovator’s dilemma: why agbioscience innovation must focus on the farmer first