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- FoodTech Weekly #234 by Daniel S. Ruben
FoodTech Weekly #234 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
February 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 15 minutes
In partnership with
#234
Hi there,
Spent yesterday and today at Techarena in Stockholm among 10,000+ founders, investors, and corporates, meeting a bunch of interesting FoodTech/AgTech people and listening to folks on stage like Richard Branson, Tony Hawk, and Marc Randolph (Netflix co-founder).
Tech Arena
Earlier this week I also tried out cryotherapy; stepping into a -87C (-124F) walk-in chamber for 3 minutes, which was intense.
I know which one of these experiences I’ll remember from this week.
Let’s dive right into things:
💸 Oobli nets €18M for novel protein 5,000x sweeter than sugar
🇪🇺 Saveggy secures €2.5M EU grant to protect produce from going to waste
🤫 The secret behind the UK restaurant selling more champagne than any other
Let's go!
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💬 Conversation with Bodil Sidén, Kost Capital
"The companies are always built by their founders and that’s how it should be. Our secret sauce as investors is Kost Studio. Louise, Peter, Asmus and team are experts in food - to have a Michelin chef, a gastro-physicist, a food-historian and a team of product developers working daily in our test-kitchen is quite unique for a VC. We simply know food."
I just interviewed Bodil Sidén, General Partner at future of food VC Kost Capital, for Solvable’s newsletter on her investment philosophy, verticals she’s excited about, fundraising dynamics, and more. Make sure to subscribe for future posts 📲.
Bodil Sidén, Kost Capital
💰 Funding
🇺🇸 Oobli has raised $18M in Series B from e.g. Ingredion Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Lever VC. The company has developed sweet proteins called monellin and brazzein that are 2,000 to 5,000 times sweeter than sugar.
🇪🇸 MOA FoodTech has received €14.8M ($15.4M) in funding from the EIC Accelerator and the EIC Fund to transform ag waste into high-value, functional ingredients using AI. Most of the funding is contingent on the startup securing matching funding from private investors.
🇩🇪 Kynda has bagged €3M ($3.1M) in fresh funding, led by Enjoy Ventures and joined by e.g. Clima Now and PHW Group. The startup uses food industry sidestreams to produce mycelium protein in just 48 hours. I interviewed Kynda’s co-founder Daniel MacGowan von Holstein for FTW #170. For a great primer on mycelium, check out this piece from Good Signal on what mycelium is, how it’s grown, what it can be used for, and more.
🇮🇱 IBI Ag has scored $6.1M in Series A1 funding, led by Corteva and joined by Trendlines, Iron Nation, Consensus Business Group, plus a grant from the Israel Innovation Authority. The startup develops bioinsecticides that allow farmers to fight pests and protect crops without using harmful chemicals.
🇸🇪 Saveggy, which develops a natural coating for fruits and vegetables to cut plastics use and extend shelf life, has been awarded a €2.5M ($2.6M) grant from the EU innovation program EIC Accelerator. Spanish solid state fermentation startup Esencia Foods also announced it just received €2M ($2.1M) from EIC Accelerator.
Vahid Sohrabpour and Arash Fayyazi / Saveggy
🇧🇪 Fyteko has closed a €13M ($13.5M) Series B round led by Crédit Mutuel Impact and joined by e.g. Supernova Invest and EIT Food. The company develops biostimulants, herbicide enhancers, and biopesticides that help boost crop yields in a sustainable way, preserving biodiversity.
🇳🇱 Proba has harvested a €1M ($1M) Seed round led by Future Food Fund and Yield Lab Europe, and supported by Value Factory Ventures. The company helps AgriFood companies cut Scope 3 emissions through insetting — meaning participants invest in sustainable practices in their own supply chain, such as e.g. low-carbon fertilizers and precision farming. Proba then verifies these efforts so that financial value is derived.
🇮🇹 ExoLab Italia has banked €5M ($5.2M) in Series A funding from CDP Venture Capital, dsm-firmenich Ventures, Linfa Fund and Maia Ventures. The company pioneers the use of plant-derived exosomes — cellular vesicles obtained from fruit — to boost the effectiveness of ingredients used in nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
🇨🇭Food Brewer, which in 2024 raised a CHF 5M ($5.6M) Seed round backed by e.g. Zürcher Kantonalbank and chocolate manufacturer Max Felchlin AG, has announced it has extended this Seed round with new investments from Lindt & Sprüngli and Sparkalis, bringing its total funding since incorporation to CHF 10M ($11.1M). The company produces sustainable cocoa, coffee, and fats through plant cell culture.
🇮🇱 Steakholder Foods has collected a $250K grant installment, part of a $1M total grant from the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD). The company is making progress on developing its 3D printed plant-based fish and eel.
Steakholder Foods
🇺🇸 Jord Bioscience has scooped up $7M in Series B led by AgriFoodTech investor Silver Blue; the company develops microbial solutions that boost crop performance.
🇺🇸 Hylio has pulled in $2M via equity crowdfunding site StartEngine; the company produces and sells ag spraying drones.
🎙️ Investment Climate: Anoop Srikantaswamy of Moonrider shares how to get funded in 2025
This week, Alex Shandrovsky met with Anoop Shrikantaswamy, Founder & CEO of Moonrider, to discuss how Anoop’s team is electrifying agriculture with electric tractors designed for smallholder farmers. From a chance conversation that sparked the idea to bootstrapping their way to a working prototype, Anoop shares how they raised $2.2M (from AdvantEdge Founders and Micelio Technology Fund) without cold-pitching VCs, the power of shameless outreach, and why their "Uber for Tractors" model is solving one of the biggest challenges in farming. This is a must-listen for anyone building in hard-tech, EVs, or agtech. The episode can be found on Spotify and Apple.
Top three findings from this conversation:
Bootstrap Until You Have Proof of Concept. The company delayed raising VC funding until they had a functional prototype, ensuring stronger leverage and validation before pitching to investors. "We didn’t want to go ahead and raise it from VCs from day one because we wanted to keep ourselves in stealth…we reached out to a few angels who are founders themselves."
You Are Only Two Calls Away From the Right People. "Fundamentally, I believe that you are just two calls away in terms of reaching out to get what you want." Anoop emphasized the power of networking and warm introductions, illustrating how connections through mutual contacts played a key role in securing investors.
Hands-on Investors Build Conviction Quickly. Investors who physically experience a product are more likely to invest. Demonstrating a working prototype in person helped build trust. "Kunal himself wants to visit…he drove the tractor and was blown away. He immediately committed a million dollars."
Sign up for Solvable’s newsletter for insights on startups, VC, angel investment, and industry trends — and some FoodTech/AgTech. New post every sometimes 😎
🧐 Noteworthy
♻️ Walmart is turning its retail food waste into compost, now sold in 100 stores. The company is working towards a 50% food waste reduction by 2030.
🤝 U.S. plant-based food brand Blackbird Foods, known for e.g. its frozen pizzas, has been acquired by plant-based investor Ahimsa Companies. Back in October, Ahimsa acquired Simulate, producer of plant-based nugget brand NUGGS.
🐶 In a ‘global first’, Meatly has started selling dog treats (at Pets at Home in the U.K.) made of a blend of Meatly’s cultivated chicken, and plant-based ingredients from startup The Pack.
🍺 A Belgian startup called Bar.on is developing a tabletop ‘beer printer’ called OneTap they say can recreate any beer in seconds — and the alcohol level can be adjusted from 0 to 8.5%.
🐓 Scientists are testing wastewater for H5N1, aka. bird flu. FFAR (the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research) just announced a grant to startup Barnwell Bio to fund the development of farm-based systems for testing wastewater for pathogens.
🌍 News from the FoodTech Weekly community
👨🏻💻 Hoxton Farms (🏴) is hiring a Business Development Associate… Hyfé Foods (🇺🇸) has two open roles for a Scientist and a Process Development Engineer.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
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🎲 Random Stuff
🍾 Convenience is king: London restaurant Bob Bob Ricard pours more champagne than any other restaurant in Britain. Their secret? At every table, there’s a small button labeled “Press for Champagne.” (h/t Kyle Westaway)
🤷 What founders engaging investors have had to deal with since 2022 (h/t: L.R.):
💄 A U.S. stealth startup, Gemma Robotics, is developing a new kind of robot, enabling ‘the world’s first automatic makeup experience’ (h/t Steve S). And before you say anything, yes, Simone Giertz, aka the Queen of Shitty Robots, did build something similar 10 years ago. (Also, I can see Gemma’s robot being used by certain ehm, senior folks in the White House).
Gemma Robotics
I love you.
Daniel
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🎵 This issue was produced while listening to am i not enough for now? by MARO
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