🥣 Hydrogen-Powered Cereal Production

Hot off the press: Meet the Jury for the FoodTech World Cup.

Together with Givaudan and Nestlé Research and Development Lausanne, we're hosting the ultimate tournament to showcase the world’s best startups in nutrition.

And we have enlisted a stellar jury from their teams as well as renowned investors from around the world incl. Mudcake, Thia Ventures, Big Idea Ventures, Catalyst Fund, Better Bite Ventures, Unovis Asset Management, The Yield Lab LatAm, Flora Ventures and ICL.

Next up: We'll be shortlisting 40 startups to pitch online in a regional Demo Day to these investors and innovation leaders, apply today to make sure you're in the mix.

This week in FoodTech:

✂️ 73% valuation cut for emergency funding
🗺️ 14 startups reducing waste in the supply chain
🧀 €32.5 million to scale animal-free dairy proteins

The Digest

📈 What’s up? Data from GFI Europe reveals that European alternative protein patent publications have surged 960% in the past decade, reaching 1,191 in 2024.

🐮 A new study suggests that animal agriculture, particularly meat and dairy farming, is the leading cause of global warming, contributing more to climate change than fossil fuels.

📉 What’s down? A historic deep freeze has shrunk US pear production to its smallest crop in 40 years.

✂️ Israeli cultivated meat company Aleph Farms has slashed its valuation by 73% in an emergency fundraising round, as it aims to secure $10 million to maintain operations.

🗺️ A map of 14 startups reducing waste with a smarter supply chain.

🍷 Good read: Why this vineyard replaced pesticides with ducks.

🐣 Early Bird tickets for the HackSummit end tonight. Lock in the best rate and come and join us on May 15-16 for two high-impact, highly productive days in Lausanne.

Fundraising

🧀 Dutch precision fermentation startup Vivici raised €32.5 million Series A funding to scale production of animal-free dairy proteins, expand into new markets, and launch its lactoferrin product under the Vivitein brand in 2025.

🦠 Jord Bioscience secured $7 million in a Series B funding round to advance its customisable microbial solutions, which enhance plant health and pest resistance by leveraging natural microbial interactions, with field trials currently underway.

🥕 New York-based Actual Veggies, which makes clean-label, whole-food alternatives, secured $7 million Series A funding to expand its retail presence and meet growing consumer demand for minimally processed, nutrient-dense options.

🔍 Scottish biotech firm uFraction8 raised £3.4 million to commercialise its microfiltration technology, designed to optimise cell and biomass production, offering a sustainable and energy-efficient solution for bioprocessing in the food, feed, and bio-based industries.

🧉 Constellation Brands' venture capital arm acquired a minority stake in Hiyo, a nonalcoholic "social tonic," to expand its presence in the growing functional beverage market.

Startup Milestones

🍌 UK-based plant biotech company Tropic is set to launch non-browning bananas in March and extended shelf-life bananas by year-end, developed using CRISPR gene editing, while also expanding field trials for disease-resistant Cavendish bananas to combat the TR4 fungal disease. Can you spot the difference?

🇪🇸 Spanish startup Allbiotech Biotechnologies unveiled Genesys V1, a cost-effective bioreactor designed to make precision fermentation research more accessible to food tech startups, universities, and research institutions.

👎 Beyond Meat is cutting 9% of its workforce, suspending its China operations, and streamlining costs despite reporting Q4 revenue growth and improved profitability.

🇦🇺 Australia’s Wide Open Agriculture received approval to export its non-GMO lupin protein isolate to China, targeting the growing demand for sustainable alternatives in protein powders and dairy-free products.

🍹 CWF launched Lacey’s Vodkashake, a plant-based cream liqueur inspired by 1950s diner milkshakes, available in banana and strawberry flavors.

Big Food

🥣 Kellogg’s has become the UK's first food manufacturer to produce cereal using hydrogen, launching a government-funded demonstration to power its toasting oven with cleaner energy.

⛽️ UK supermarket Sainsbury’s is planning to convert food waste into biofuel to power 30 HGVs, cutting 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually in a circular sustainability initiative.

🤝 Mars, Inc. has partnered with Fonterra to launch the $27 million Farmer Forward Program, a five-year initiative to help dairy farmers reduce emissions through climate-smart agriculture.

💰 Dutch investment group Prosus is set to acquire Just Eat Takeaway for €4.1 billion, delisting the food delivery giant from Amsterdam’s public markets amid declining share prices and recent cost-cutting efforts.

🍫 M&S is trialling paper packaging for its chocolate bars, aiming to remove 1.4 million plastic units in a year, with plans for wider rollout if successful.

👀 Good Read: Green Queen shares how declining sales and leadership changes at Unilever, Nestlé, and Monde Nissin signal ongoing struggles in the plant-based meat market.

From the Community

Job opportunities with:

• Olsaro (Sweden) are looking for an Operations Manager

• BiOMFarms (India) are hiring a Research Intern

• EIT Food (Belgium) are recruiting a Sr Innovation Programme Manager

💡 Opinion: How does plant cell culture compare to cultivated meat?

🕵️ I’m working on a list of CVCs in Food and Climate. Anyone I’ve missed here?

🇨🇭 🇵🇹 Join us at a FoodHack Meetup in Zurich and Lisbon - sign up here.

⌛️ Just a few days left to apply for MassChallenge Switzerland’s program - get access to global corporates, resources, mentoring, cash prizes, all for free. Apply today.

🚀 5 open opportunities for Startups in FoodTech (plus plenty more in the comments)

🗓️ Join the SFNV Impact Forum on Controlled Environment Agriculture, taking place on 11 March. This one-hour online session will feature insights from Martino Corti (UMAMI), Fabian Wahl (Agroscope), and Bruno Cheval (CleanGreens Solutions), followed by a live Q&A. Register here. 

🧹 Just for fun: A clean sweep

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Until next time - Stay Hungry