New in Funding: 🫛 $49.2 million for pea protein milk

🇺🇸 The Biden administration announced investments worth $195.9 million into 185 agricultural producers and rural entrepreneurs to help boost the agricultural supply chain, expand markets for producers, and lower overall costs.

💰 German sugar manufacturer Nordzucker is investing more than €100 million into a new production facility for pea proteins to be used as a source of protein and texturiser in plant-based foods.

🫛 US-based pea milk company Ripple Foods raised $49.2 million, bringing its total investment to date to $274 million. Its USP is Ripptein, its pea protein, made via patent-pending technology that it claims eliminates “the impurities like flavonoids and tannins that can give other plant-based milks their plant-ey flavour”.

🥗 Swedish company Matsmart-Motatos raised €40 million in a funding round led by Circularity Capital. It tackles waste in the food supply chain by procuring and reselling overstock goods that traditional retailers don’t want, and has recirculated over 60,000 tonnes of food and consumer products since its inception in 2014.

🇩🇪 The German government has apportioned €38 million from its 2024 federal budget for the promotion of alternative proteins, supporting a switch to plant-based agriculture, and opening a Proteins of the Future centre.

💸 Liberation Labs secured a $25 million government-backed loan to build its first US commercial-scale precision fermentation facility, which will have 600,000 litres of capacity and is set to become operational by the end of next year. Here’s the latest on the project.

🐟 Indonesian digital solution provider for the shrimp farming industry Jala raised $13 million Series A funding to scale its services, including in-depth aquaculture analysis, financing, and marketplace services.

🇮🇹 Milan-based Soplaya raised €12.5 million in a funding round led by Sinergia Venture Fund. It operates as a digital wholesaler for restaurants, providing chefs with access to a range of artisan, local, or niche food products and brands from farmers, supporting its mission to become Europe's most sustainable, diverse and efficient food supply service.

🗽 Malou, based in New York, secured more than $10 million in funding. Its AI-powered platform provides an all-in-one solution that helps restaurants increase their sales by attracting, retaining, and building loyalty from customers through enhanced online presence.

🍎 Ryp Labs, based in Seattle, secured $8.1 million Series A funding to get its bio-inhibitor stickers, which extend the shelf life of fresh produce and help to reduce food waste, on more fruit and vegetables in US retail outlets.

☀️ Finnish startup Solar Foods secured €8 million Series B funding as it works to commercialise its Solein protein, made out of thin air via a fermentation process. Solar Foods uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen instead of sugars to feed its microbes, and hopes to secure EU approval for its protein late next year. See how it’s made.

🍹 US-based Spirited Brands Holdings, Inc. raised $4.5 million seed funding ahead of launching two low-alcohol canned beverage brands early next year: an Asian-inspired soda range made with Junmai sake and a Mexican-inspired margarita brand, featuring Mexican agave azul wine.

🇰🇪 Amini, based in Kenya, raised $4 million in a seed funding round led by Salesforce Ventures and the Female Founders Fund. It uses AI and space technologies to make data on Africa's environment accessible to farmers.

🇳🇬 Nigerian startup Pricepally raised $1.3 million seed funding to expand its online grocery store for affordable fresh produce and packaged food beyond the three cities it currently serves in the country.

🥤 British startup Virtue Drinks secured £1.2 million to accelerate growth of its natural energy drinks, made with yerba mate and 24 vitamins and minerals, across the UK.

🇩🇪 Berlin-based Quazy Foods secured €800,000 pre-seed funding to prepare for the pilot stage of its microalgae production. It is developing improved strains and processes designed to unleash the potential of microalgae as an efficient, healthy and sustainable source of protein. Here’s what’s next.

🍄 Israel’s Mush Foods has been awarded $250,000 in the Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Business Competition to support its mission to cut global meat consumption in half by providing alternative meat ingredients made from mycelium. 

🔬 Germany food tech Kynda received a non-dilutive grant from the country’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture to support a project to produce mycelial protein more efficiently and at scale using its biomass fermentation platform and waste side streams. 

🪰 US-based Grubbly Farms closed its Series A funding round. It uses black soldier fly grub protein to create healthier and more sustainable pet food, and will use the funds to “double down on its historical focus on the pet chicken market”.

💸 GrowinCo secured capital from MANDI Ventures to support further expansion into the US market. The company aims to streamline co-manufacturing and sourcing processes for leading CPG companies in Brazil and the US.

🍝 Kim Kardashian’s private equity fund, SKKY Partners, acquired a “significant minority stake” in specialty condiment brand Truff, which produces a range of hot sauce, pasta sauce, mayonnaise, oil and salt featuring black or white truffles.