🍭 New in Funding: 300X sweeter than sugar

🍄 Germany’s Infinite Roots, formerly known as Mushlabs, secured $58 million Series B funding, marking “the largest investment” in mycelium technologies in Europe to date. It will use the funds to “enter a new era of commercial growth”. Hear what’s to come in their ‘new era of growth’.

🦗 Dutch insect protein startup Protix, which uses waste from the food industry as feed for insects that then are processed into valuable nutrients such as proteins and lipids, secured investment from the European Investment Bank through a loan agreement with up to €37 million in additional funds to support its international expansion plans. 

🍭 Ingredient company Elo Life Systems raised a $20.5 million Series A extension from existing investors to commercialise its natural, monk fruit-derived sweetener, which it claims is 300 times sweeter than sugar without the calories.

💰 Madrid-based Eatable Adventures completed the first closing of its Europe Foodtech Acceleration Fund I SCSp, securing 50% of its €30 million target. It will use the funds to support agrifoodtech startups across the bloc, and its first nine portfolio companies include Italy’s Agree NET, which is developing new solutions and materials to increase the shelf life of fresh food, and Foreverland, a B2B cocoa-free chocolate supplier.

🔥 Aniai, headquartered in New York, secured $12 million for its burger-grilling robot, Alpha Grill. It will use the funds to launch its first manufacturing facility, Factory One, in South Korea, and deploy a cloud-based AI software platform for the robot called Alpha Cloud.

🇧🇬 Bulgarian startup Nasekomo raised €8 million Series A funding, in a round led by Invenio Partners, to build an ‘automated and data-driven’ insect agriculture franchise model in the form of a standardised insect bioconversion system that can be rolled out around the globe.

🍖 New York-based plant-based meat startup Chunk Foods secured $7.5 million in its seed extension, bringing the round’s total raise to $22 million, and announced a strategic partnership to develop co-branded products with Better Balance, one of Latin America’s largest meat and dairy producers.

☕️ Kaffe Bueno, based in Denmark, raised €6.2 million in a Series A funding round led by Borregaard. It upcycles coffee by-products for the personal care and food industries, and will use the funds to expand into new areas such as advanced materials and agriculture.

🐟 Aquaculture and fintech startup AquaExchange, which serves India’s multi-billion-dollar shrimp and fish ecosystem, secured $6 million in a Series A funding round led by Ocean 14 Capital. It will use the funds to scale adoption of its full-stack business model, which includes farm automation, crop financing and harvest procurement, and to expand into international markets.

🇰🇪 Kenyan agtech Shamba Pride raised $3.7 million pre-Series A funding from EDFI AgriFI and Seedstars Africa Ventures. Its tech platform digitises various tasks for agricultural dealers, including business management and inventory ordering, ensuring the availability of supplies like fertilisers and seeds for small-scale farmers in rural areas.

🍳 New York-based C16 Biosciences received a $3.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to expand its Palmless platform for precision-fermented palm oil alternatives and accelerate its path to regulatory approval.

🥘 Verdify, based in the Netherlands, secured €2.4 million to scale its tech platform, which offers personalised online meal inspiration to empower consumers to make healthier food choices. Check out the journey so far.

🦴 UK-based bone broth brand Freja secured £2 million from FMCG industry leaders and sports personalities. Its products are made from entirely natural ingredients, and it has grown at a rate of 400% per year since its inception in 2020.