Sollum Technologies raised the largest funding round this week, for its programmable LED lighting for greenhouses. Multus Biotechnology also secured funding, while The Guardian and others unveiled an investigation into a nonprofit for what it calls “phantom carbon credits.”
Agtech funding
🇨🇦 Sollum Technologies bags $30 million for its programmable LED lighting tech for greenhouses. The raise includes a $25 million round from Idealist Capital and $5 million from Fondaction. (Greenhouse Management)
🇺🇸 Climate biotech startup Living Carbon has secured a $21 million Series A raise for its “photosynthesis-enhanced trees.” Temasek led the round with participation from Lowercarbon Capital and others. (AFN)
🇬🇧 🇯🇵 Eagle Genomics raises undisclosed investment from Japan’s OMRON Ventures. Funds will support the ongoing development of Eagle Genomics’ life sciences data platform. (Business Weekly)
Foodtech funding
🇺🇸 🇮🇱 Food freshness monitoring startup Evigence secures $18 million Series B round. Cleveland Avenue led the round with participation from previous investors Planet Capital and Landa Ventures. (AFN)
🇨🇦 Portage leads $10 million for wholesale foodservice provider Notch. Previously known as Chefhero, Notch offers software to help restaurants digitize the back of house. (PR Newswire)
🇺🇸 Zitti raises $3.5 million seed round to simplify digital transactions between restaurants and their suppliers. Oceans Ventures and Serena Ventures co-led the round.
🇬🇧 Multus Biotechnology secures $9.5m Series A to build production plant for growth media. Funding includes a $2.5 million grant from Innovate UK through the EIC Accelerator. (The Spoon)
🇨🇳 Cultivated meat company Jimi Biotech closes ¥20 million ($3 million) round for hiring and R&D. Plum Ventures and Fanqie Capital led the round. (Green Queen)
🇪🇸 Velada cooks up €1 million ($1 million) for its curated restaurant guide and booking app. Private investors including IBM‘s Jesús Mantas and Medicxi Ventures co-founder Francesco De Rubertis participated. (EU Startups)
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇺🇸 🌍 Switch Bioworks, launches a $1.5 million partnership with King Philanthropies. The two will develop customized biofertilizers for smallholder farmers in Africa. (Switch Bioworks)
Other news
🇺🇸 🇨🇴 “Instant” delivery startup Jokr ends operations in Colombia. The shutdown occurs just two months after the company ended operations in Chile. (LatamList)
🇳🇱 🇬🇧 Just Eat Takeaway partners with UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. The announcement comes just a few weeks after the delivery giant struck a partnership with food retailer Co-op. (Silicon Canals)
🇺🇸 Freshly halts direct-to-consumer meal delivery business. The service cited high inflation and economic uncertainty as some of the reasons for closing down. (Food Business News)
🇦🇺 Our Cow buys brand and assets of recently shuttered grocery delivery startup Voly. In a bid to widen its consumer base, Our Cow bought the database, app and brand. (Startup Daily)
🇨🇱 The Live Green Co. launches precision fermentation division. The company will deploy an artificial intelligence platform to find ingredients that can replace animal-based proteins. (Food Navigator)
🇺🇸 Nest co-founder Matt Rogers’ new startup launches first product. Mill’s circular economy trashcan turns consumer waste scraps into chicken feed for farmers. (TechCrunch)
🇫🇷 Danone says it plans to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The company says it will reach this goal by working with farmers to implement regenerative agriculture practices in its dairy supply chain. (Food Dive)
🌎 Investigation: the Guardian, Die Zeit and SourceMaterial say 90% of Verra‘s rainforest carbon offsets are “phantom credits” & “worthless.” Verra is disputing the investigation. (The Guardian)
Sponsored
International Fresh Produce Association launches year 3 of its produce accelerator