🍄 Shiitake Hits Scale

🤖 Ag robotics startup 4AG Robotics, based in Canada, raised CAD 40 million in a Series B funding round led by Astanor and Cibus Capital, with participation from Voyager Capital, InBC, Emmertech, BDC Industrial Innovation Fund, Jim Richardson Family Office, and Stray Dog Capital, to scale production and deployment of its autonomous mushroom harvesting robots.

🛍️ Saudi Arabia-based food delivery startup Calo raised $39 million in a Series B extension round led by Aljazira Capital, with participation from Nuwa Capital, STV, Khwarizmi Ventures, and Al Faisaliah Group, to support its expansion into the UK and scale its tech-enabled ready-to-eat meal services.

🇬🇷 Greek startup StiQ, which develops AI-powered cloud kitchen technology integrating software, logistics, and food operations to deliver healthy, affordable meals through a portfolio of digital restaurant brands, secured €20 million from the European Investment Bank to further expand its operations.

🧬 Dutch biotech Solynta secured €20 million in venture debt financing from the European Investment Bank to advance its non-GMO hybrid breeding technology for developing disease-resistant, climate-resilient potato varieties cultivated from true seeds instead of traditional tubers.

🍗 Quorn, owned by Monde Nissin through Marlow Foods, secured an £18 million investment via a new share issuance to support debt reduction and brand revitalisation under its new CEO, as part of a broader turnaround strategy following significant losses and declining market share.

🌱 California-based agricultural biotech firm BioConsortia raised $15 million in a funding round led by Otter Capital and affiliated funds to scale up and commercialise its nitrogen-fixing corn seed treatment, Always-N™.

🇨🇦 Canadian biotech Mara Renewables secured $9.1 million from S2G Investments to expand its sustainable omega-3 platform and scale its fish-free, algae-based nutrition solutions for the global human and animal health markets.

🔢 FloVision Solutions, a US-based startup developing AI-powered analytics tools for the global food industry, raised $8.7 million in a Series A funding round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Serra Ventures, SOSV, and Rockstart, to expand its operations across multiple continents.

☕️ Awake Chocolate, based in Toronto and maker of functional caffeinated chocolate bites and bars, raised C$8 million in a funding round led by Btomorrow Ventures and BDC Capital to further expand its operations.

🍩 London-based Doughlicious, known for its gluten-free frozen cookie dough-enrobed gelato bites, secured €4.3 million in a funding round led by Rich Products Ventures and The Angel Group to accelerate its expansion across the US and international markets.

🍫 UK-based Win-Win raised £3 million in a Series A funding round backed by investors including the Oetker Collection, Foodlabs, Mustard Seed Maze, Gota Ventures and Paulig. It will use the funds to accelerate growth of its cocoa-free chocolate alternatives and support entry into major European markets.

🧫 Czech startup Mewery secured €2.9 million in public funding, primarily from Horizon Europe’s EIC Accelerator and supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic and CzechInvest, to scale production of its cultivated pork and launch pilot projects with European meat producers.

🇬🇧 British startup Modern Baker, which is reimagining ultra-processed foods as health-positive through its science-led "food-as-medicine" approach, raised £2.5 million in a Series A funding round led by impact investor network Adjuvo to scale its innovation, including its flagship Superloaf product that offers proven gut and blood glucose benefits.

🇬🇧 Better Nature, which produces clean-label tempeh products and is based in the UK, secured €1.2 million to scale sales, marketing, and product innovation following a 128% sales increase and rapid growth in the UK and German markets.

🍄 Netherlands-based MUCHgroup raised €375,000 in a funding round led by Remagine Food to scale production of its shiitake-based meat alternative, MUCHroom, and grow its distribution and presence in the foodservice and institutional catering sectors.

🐟 US cell ag startup Atlantic Fish Co., which is developing cultivated white fish such as black sea bass, received a $305,000 SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation to support scaling its production.

🧫 California-based Krokos Bio secured funding from Big Idea Ventures to scale its proprietary bioprocess for cultivating food-grade saffron via plant cell culture as a sustainable and economically viable alternative to traditional agriculture.