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Image credit: Meituan/KeeTa

The Week in AgriFoodTech: Pluton Biosciences bags $16.5m, Babylon Micro-Farms secures funds, José Andrés launches climate institute

May 25, 2023

This week, agtech companies Pluton Biosciences and Babylon Micro-Farms raised funds for microbial cover crops and vertical farms, respectively. Celebrity chef José Andrés teamed up with a university for a new food and climate institute, and EIT Food invested in two alternative ingredient startups.

Incredo 'enhanced' sugar can enable sugar reductions of 30-50%
Incredo ‘enhanced’ sugar can enable sugar reductions of 30-50%. Image credit: Incredo

Foodtech funding

🇺🇸 Restaurant-management software startup Restaurant365 secures $135 million. KKR and L Catterton co-led the round, which also includes previous backers ICONIQ Growth and Bessemer Venture Partners. (AFN)

🇮🇱 DouxMatok rebrands as Incredo, bags $30 million Series C to expand its sugar reduction platform. The round was led by  dsm firmenich Venturing and Sienna Venture Capital. (AFN)

🇬🇧 Amadeus Capital Partners and S28 Capital lead £4 million ($4.9 million) Series A for Tenzo. Tenzo’s restaurant management platform uses AI to help businesses manage costs and environmental impact. (UKTN)

🇫🇷 EIT Food invests in €500,000 into Green Spot Technologies‘ fermentation platform. The platform upcycles plant-based side streams into functional ingredients. (EIT Food)

🇮🇱 EIT Food pumps €400,000 into functional ingredients startup MEALA. The latter uses plant-based proteins on products that mimic the texture and mouthfeel of animal-based products. (EIT Food)

🇺🇸 Foodtech investor Big Idea Ventures has made a first close for its New Protein Fund II. The fund aims to close the targeted $75 million within the next 12 months. (Agri Investor)

eFishery
Image credit: eFishery

Agtech funding

🇮🇩 eFishery reaches unicorn status thanks to a $108 million Series D. UAE-based G42 Global Expansion Fund (42xFund) led the round. (AFN)

🇺🇸 Pluton Biosciences raises $16.5 million Series A for further development of its its microbial cover crop. Illumina Ventures and RA Capital led the round. (FinSMEs)

🇦🇺 Climate tech startup FLINTpro lands AUD $13.5 million ($9 million) Series A, hints at US expansion. Understorey Ventures led the round. (Startup Daily)

🇬🇧 UNDO scores £9.6 million ($12 million) to capture carbon with volcanic rock dust. Lowercarbon Capital and AENU led the round. (UKTN)

🇺🇸 Fertilizer efficiency startup Phospholutions wins IFA/UM6P Africa AgTech Startup Showcase prize. The company beat seven other startups to secure the grand prize of €20,000 ($21,000). (IFA)

🇺🇸 Virginia Venture Partners makes undisclosed investment into Babylon Micro-Farms. Babylon will use the investment to continue nationwide expansion of its vertical farms. (Vertical Farm Daily)

Image credit: Wicked Kitchen

M&A, IPOs & partnerships

🇺🇸 Bunge and Nutrien Ag Solutions parter to expand sustainable agriculture. The partnership will focus first on soybeans grown in US regions close to Bunge’s crushing facilities. (FoodBev Media)

🇮🇱 Enzymit and Aleph Farms team up to produce insulin alternatives for cultivated meat. The new proteins could potentially slash costs and development times for cultivated meat production. (FoodBev Media)

🇺🇸 Plant-based food brand Wicked Kitchen acquires alt-protein startup Current Foods. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. (Just Food)

🇺🇸 UPL & Biome Makers partner to improve soil health. UPL will use Biome Makers’ BeCrop Test technology in a series of global trials across multiple locations. (Agribusiness Global)

Image credit: Meituan/KeeTa

Other news

🇨🇳 Delivery service Meituan launches food delivery brand KeeTa amid Hong Kong debut. KeeTa will have “full coverage” of the Hong Kong market by the end of 2023, the company says. (Forbes)

🇺🇸 Virtual restaurant platform Nextbite lays off undisclosed number of employees. The cuts come after two rounds of layoffs in 2022. (Restaurant Dive)

🇺🇸 Celebrity chef José Andrés & The George Washington University launch food and climate institute. The Global Food Institute will develop new solutions for agrifood-related climate issues. (Axios)

🇧🇷 Agribusiness marketplace Seedz to bring its platform to North America. The company already has key leadership roles established in Boston, Massachusetts and Minneapolis, Minnesota. (AFN)

🇳🇱 Meatable says it has reduced the time it takes to create cultivated pork to eight days. The company notes this is a significant time reduction from its previous timeframe of three weeks. (Tech.eu)

🇮🇱 Sensifi emerges with an “artificial nose.” The company  claims could disrupt the food testing market by enabling rapid, on-premise detection of pathogens such as E. Coli and salmonella. (AFN)

🇺🇸 Motif FoodWorks has accused Impossible Foods of hiring private investigators to pose as potential customers. The former claims the move is to “circumvent the discovery process” in ongoing IP litigation between the companies. (AFN)

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