🪺 Vow, no fowl

It’s been another busy week for industry events - I’ll take a safe bet that you have either been to, or know someone who’s been at Tonic, Slush, FIE Europe or Singapore International Agri-Food Week.

So it’s no surprise that many of this week’s headlines come from Asia-Pacific with new data analysis from AgFunder, and milestone breakthroughs from IntegriCulture, Vow and TurtleTree.

Plus if you’re looking for 1 final must-attend event to end 2024 on a high note, then we’d of course love to give you a warm welcome in frosty NYC at the HackSummit.

This week in FoodTech:
🍫 AI-designed functional snacking
🌱 Vegan brand on the brink of collapse
🇭🇰 Cultured foie gras’ Hong Kong debut

The Digest

📈 What’s up? Data from Mintec by Expana reveals an 18-37% year-over-year growth in plant-based food purchases, and notes a shift away from animal products across all categories.

🌏 Also up. The Asia-Pacific agrifoodtech ecosystem has seen a strong recovery in 2024, with startups raising $4.2 billion—a 38% YOY increase—accounting for 31% of global agrifoodtech investment, up from a 10-year average of 26%, according to data from AgFunder.

📉 What’s down? Olive oil prices are expected to halve and stabilise as improved weather conditions and strong harvests bring relief to the market, according to data from Deoleo.

💰 Also down. Vegan meal kit startup Allplants has filed to appoint administrators, citing a challenging post-Covid period and financial difficulties.

🧫 The APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum released two white papers addressing safety and regulatory gaps in cell lines and cell culture media for cultivated meat, aiming to guide commercialisation and promote harmonised food safety standards across the region.

AgriFood Fundraises

🍓 Vertical farming company Oishii closed its Series B round with $150 million, with new investors Resilience Reserve and Miyako Capital joining existing backers, as it prepares for its first international expansion with a new centre in Tokyo.

🍏 German snacking brand KoRo, known for its range of products made from natural foods, from nut butters and dried fruits to clean-label snacks and functional foods, raised €35 million in an oversubscribed Series C round to support its growth across Europe.

🌿 San Diego-based Plantible Foods secured $30 million Series B funding to expand manufacturing and meet the "insatiable" demand for its versatile plant-based protein, which it extracts from duckweed. 

🤖 Four Growers raised $9 million in a Series A funding round led by Basset Capital to develop autonomous robots that address greenhouse labour shortages by automating tasks like harvesting and pruning.

🍳 Shenzhen-based Botinkit, which is behind the Omni automated cooking system, raised $8 million in a Series A extension to expand its kitchen robot that can stir-fry, stew, and cook with minimal human intervention, aiming to halve labour requirements in commercial kitchens.

👀 Check out all the latest fundraises including microbial-based biopesticides for sustainable crop protection and the next investment for a Dutch cultivated meat company.

Startup Milestones

🍽️ Australian cultivated meat startup Vow has become the first to meet Hong Kong's safety requirements for cultivated meat and will debut its cultured foie gras, Forged Gras, at The Aubrey in the Mandarin Oriental, making it the first startup to sell multiple cultivated meat products into multiple markets. Take a peek at the tasting.

🎌 Tokyo-based IntegriCulture launched a cultivated meat starter kit for researchers and startups, designed to democratise cultivated meat R&D by simplifying prototyping with innovative tools like a high-efficiency bioreactor.

🍫 Chile’s NotCo launched NotSquares, a new AI-designed functional snack with up to 6 grams of protein, Vitamin B6, and slow-release carbohydrate called Palatinose™ for sustained energy without sugar-induced fatigue.

🥛 TurtleTree has partnered with Singapore-based Mad Foods to launch the first precision-fermented lactoferrin product in the city-state, incorporating its LF+ ingredient into canned oat milk lattes, with a planned rollout in mid-2025.

Plant Based

🍰 Swedish oat milk giant Oatly has partnered with British rapper Giggs for a limited-edition dairy-free cake and custard kit giveaway, to promote awareness of lactose intolerance and encourage wider availability of Oatly's vanilla custard. Watch the film.

🍔 Impossible Foods received a positive safety assessment from the European Food Safety Authority for its genetically modified heme ingredient, marking a key milestone toward bringing its plant-based products, including the Impossible Burger, to the European market.

🤝 Ingredion is partnering with Lantmännen on a long-term collaboration to meet European demand for high-quality plant-based protein, starting with sustainably sourced pea protein isolates. The collaboration is supported by Lantmännen's $100 million investment in a new Swedish production facility, set to open in 2027.

🔢 Plant-based meat sensory analysis publisher Nectar has acquired the data assets of Taste Like's alternative protein discovery platform to enhance data-driven innovation and research in the alternative protein sector.

AgTech

👀 Good read: What 1,000 farmers told BCG about tech adoption

🇩🇰 Denmark finalised a landmark deal to implement a livestock emissions tax and allocate 43 billion Danish kroner ($6.1 billion) to convert farmland into forests, aiming to plant a billion trees over the next two decades for a greener agriculture sector.

💡 A pilot project in Füllinsdorf, Switzerland is demonstrating a new, practical way of using solar energy in greenhouses as the photovoltaic systems from Voltiris make it possible to produce solar power without affecting plant growth. P.S. Did you see their Co-Founder and CEO is headlining the HackSummit?

🎬 Good watch on Circle Farming: A groundbreaking approach to local food production, biodiversity, and soil health.

From the Community

Get hired in FoodTech

• Lifetime Ventures (Japan) is hiring an Associate Intern

• Venture Studio, Marble (France) are looking for a CEO in Enteric Methane

• Tesco (UK) are recruiting for a Sustainable Fisheries Manager

👋 Join us at a FoodHack Meetup in Dubai, Zurich, Berlin, San Juan and Lisbon.

🇨🇭 As The Cultured Hub, a new Swiss “Scale-up as a service” facility”, prepares to open its doors, Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley are bringing together Swiss and international experts at a nationwide State of Play event to explore how we can team up to accelerate cultured food to market.

💡 Applications close soon for the MassChallenge ‘Sustainable Food Solutions Challenge 2025. Apply here.

🎧 Good listen: Jake Berber of Prefer shares how to get funded in 2024.

🪄 When your startup matches a VC investment thesis.

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Until next time - Stay Hungry