🥬 $40m for plant gene editing

🛒 Berlin-based speedy grocery startup Flink raised $150 million, which it will use to strengthen its operations in Germany and the Netherlands through a partnership with Just Eat Takeaway.com.

🥬 Plant gene editing pioneer Pairwise raised $40 million Series C funding and entered a five-year joint venture with agtech giant Corteva to advance its technology, with the aim of boosting climate resilience in corn and soy crops.

🧬 Arzeda, based in Seattle, secured $38 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by Sofinnova Partners. It uses AI to design proteins and enzymes for use in the likes of natural sweeteners, laundry detergent and biodegradable materials.

🥓 New York-based startup Ecovative raised $28 million in a growth equity round to scale its mycelium-based MyBacon product and launch new sustainable leather alternatives.

🍷 Ferovinum, a London-based digital platform for wine and spirits businesses, raised €20.8 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round to address liquidity, supply chain, and regulatory challenges in the global drinks market.

🥔 Denmark’s MATR Foods secured a €20 million loan from the European Investment Bank to build its first large-scale production facility. It produces meat alternatives via fungi fermentation, using local crops such as beetroot, potatoes, lupin, and peas.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 UK-based MiAlgae raised £14 million Series A funding to build a commercial-scale facility in Scotland, where it will grow microalgae in fermentation tanks to produce omega-3 fatty acids.

🇳🇿 Lucidome Bio, based in New Zealand, secured $13.5 million from AgriZero^NZ and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre to help Kiwi farmers reduce their emissions with its methane vaccine.

🧀French biotech Standing Ovation secured €3.75 million Series A+ funding for its precision-fermented, animal-free protein ingredient, Advanced Casein, with the aim of launching in the US by 2025.

🌾 US-based Lil Bucks, which makes sprouted buckwheat products, raised $3 million in a Series A funding round led by Proterra Investment Partners to support its expansion plans.

🔍 ReScale, based in Boston, emerged from stealth with $2.3 million to tackle what it calls "the biggest pain point" for small and medium-sized CPG brands: sourcing, negotiating, and managing external manufacturing partnerships.

🇨🇭 Switzerland-based Fabas raised CHF 1.3 million seed funding to support its goal of becoming a leading B2B supplier of pulse-based protein ingredients for plant-based food alternatives.

🦗 British startup Tuggs secured £1.1 million pre-seed funding to create eco-friendly, healthy dog food by blending insects with meat, fish, and vegetables.

❄️ German startup Freda secured a seven-figure seed investment for its premium frozen meals, which are crafted in-house and in partnership with artisanal producers, after gaining over 20,000 customers within a year.

🍺 British alt protein startup Fermtech has been awarded two grants, from the Scottish Inward Investment Catalyst Fund and the IBioIC Feasibility Fund, to support its work in upcycling spent grains from breweries into nutritious protein ingredients.