Oxford University spinout Wild Bioscience raised a $60 million Series A round this week to develop climate smart crops by using AI to “better understand the lessons learned over millions of years of evolution encoded in plant genomes.”
Robot-maker Starship, well known in food delivery circles, netted $50 million in fresh funding, while Ascribe Bio picked up $12 million to expand its crop protection platform.
Elsewhere, the European Union announced a number of grants, while Stateside, EcoEnterprises closed its fourth Latam-focused fund.
Funding news
🇮🇳 Indian quick-commerce firm Zepto raises $450m at $7b valuation Deal Street Asia
🇨🇭 Ecorobotix doubles down on AI software for precision spraying after $150m raise AgFunderNews
🇬🇧 Oxford spinout Wild Bioscience bags $60M to grow climate-resilient crops TechFundingNews
🇺🇸 Starship Technologies raises $50M as robot delivery race revs up Restaurant Business Online
🇺🇸 Ascribe Bio secures $12 million Series A funding to advance natural crop protection platform iGrow News
🇺🇸 Tender Food rebrands as Lasso, raises $6.5m to expand novel spinning tech beyond alt-meat AgFunderNews
🇫🇷 French foodtech startup Kikleo raises €3.5M to help restaurants cut food waste Silicon Canals
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
🇫🇷 Gourmey buys Vital Meat in major cultivated merger FoodNavigator
🇺🇸 🇵🇱 Mars partners with European renewable energy developer Baking Business
🇺🇸 Open-source moment for cultivated meat as GFI releases SCiFi Foods’ cell lines to academia AgFunderNews
Funds, grants & accelerators
🇺🇸 EcoEnterprises reaches $100m first close for fourth LatAm impact fund Agri Investor
🇺🇸 Reservoir aims to bring more deep tech talent to agtech with new investment vehicle AgFunderNews
🇮🇹 Italy’s Maia Ventures launches $64m agrifood fund backed by EIF and others AgFunderNews
🇧🇪 EIT Food awards €600,000 to 18 agrifoodtech startups at Next Bite 2025 Vegconomist
🇪🇺 EU project FABULOSE receives €3.5m to develop animal-free leather from biotechnologically produced cellulose Vegconomist
🇪🇺 EU allocates €5.7 million for four fresh aquaculture projects The Fish Site
Other news
🇪🇺 EU to delay CSRD sustainability reporting standards for non-EU companies ESG Today
🇿🇦 South African insect ag co Inseco calls it quits amid power cuts, pivots: ‘We ran out of time’ AgFunderNews
🇺🇸 Beyond Meat slumps as shareholders agonize over debt exchange offer Reuters
🇺🇸 OerthBio winds down operations LinkedIn
🇺🇸 Alpine Bio debuts ‘insanely soluble’ soy protein isolate and iron-rich lactoferrin made in soybeans AgFunderNews [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in Alpine Bio.]
🇺🇸 California becomes first state to ban ultra-processed foods in schools Food Dive
🇩🇪 BASF expects to partially divest Ag Solutions division in 2027 Agri Trade News
