Forward Fooding’s Post

💰🌱 SPAIN'S HEURA RAISES €40M SERIES B Heura Foods has closed the second-largest funding round for a plant-based company in 2023 (only behind Japan’s DAIZ), raising €40M ($43M) in Series B financing. It follows a €20M ($21.5M) pre-Series B round in 2022, with total funding for the brand reaching €88M ($94.6M). Participants in the Series B round included Upfield (owned by investment firm KKR), Unovis Asset Management, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), and Newtree Impact, which Heura says builds a huge plant-based alliance, with a “board that will focus on top-notch tech to set new industry standards”. Founded in 2017, Heura makes clean-label plant-based analogues for chicken, beef, pork and fish, with a 19-strong lineup available in more than 22,000 locations in over 20 countries. One of the newest products to make a wave is its York-style deli ham slices, which were launched in October in Spain and France. Since then, the brand claims it is already the top rotating cold-cut alternative in its home country. “To change the food system, we need to move the pressure from consumers to the food industry, placing health and sustainability as non-negotiable,” Heura says. “This new chapter will drive us to profitability while allowing us to develop breakthrough technology to tackle the key challenges within the industry in a scalable way.” Marc Coloma Bernat Ananos Martinez Kim Anders Odhner #GreenQueen #futurefoods #foodtech #sustainability #climateaction #emissions #foodwaste

🧀💼 STANDING OVATION RAISES €3.75M AND NAMES NEW CEO FOR 2025 ANIMAL-FREE CASEIN LAUNCH Parisian food tech startup Standing Ovation is gearing up for the launch of its animal-free casein protein with fresh capital and a new CEO. The precision fermentation company has raised an additional €3.75M in a Series A extension, adding to the €12M it raised in the original round in 2022. The funds will be used to scale up production of Advanced Casein, its first patented product, ahead of a planned market launch in the US in 2025. This will be helped by the expertise of Yvan CHARDONNENS, who has taken over the reins from co-founder Romain Chayot. Chardonnens is a seasoned C-suite executive who has worked at large firms like Oterra, Firmenich, IFF, Unilever, Barry Callebaut Group, and Roquette. “I am excited to be joining such an innovative company at the forefront of its sector, with the potential to have a positive impact on our food ecosystems and deliver solutions to climate challenges,” Chardonnens said. Standing Ovation is tackling casein, which makes up 80% of the protein content in milk and is responsible for many of the functional properties that make dairy desirable – like the melty and stretchy nature of cheese, or the creamy texture of ice cream. It’s a $2.7B market, but it’s a product of a carbon-heavy dairy industry. The Series A+ round comes amid a flurry of investments into fermentation startups in Europe, which have raised twice more money than plant-based and three times as much as cultivated meat companies this year. In the first half of 2024, the fermentation segment surpassed its funding total for 2023 in Europe, reaching €164M. Since then, a host of companies have added to this pot. Onego Bio secured €14M, Adamo Foods brought in $2.5M, and Formo raised one of the biggest rounds of the year with $66M, among others. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e9bXpV-B #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefoods #foodsystems #sustainability 

🇫🇷 Standing Ovation raised €3.75M in Series A+, adding to the €12M raised earlier to scale up production of precision-fermented casein The cash injection will help the French startup ramp up production of its patented Advanced Casein product, with plans for a US market launch by 2025. Leadership is shifting as Yvan CHARDONNENS steps in as the new CEO, taking over from co-founder Romain Chayot. As it prepares to scale its operations, Chardonnens brings a wealth of experience from global giants like Unilever and Firmenich. The startup produces bioidentical casein that matches the amino acid profile and functionality of dairy casein. This animal-free casein is designed to replicate the qualities of dairy in products like cheese, yoghurt, ice cream, and protein bars. Key investors (Series A round): Astanor, PeakBridge, Big Idea Ventures, and more ✉️ Hungry for more updates on biotech advancing the future of food and ag? Devour the free subscription: betterbioeconomy.com

Heura Foods, a Barcelona-based leader in the plant-based food sector, has successfully closed a €40M Series B funding round, marking the largest plant-based investment in 2023. The funding round was supported by major investors in the plant-based industry, including Upfield, Unovis Asset Management, European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), and Newtree Impact, positioning Heura for significant growth in the global protein transition. 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦 👉 https://lnkd.in/dzUG3HCX Josep Pujol Vidal Marc Coloma Patrick D. David Ferreiro Loperena Jaime Lopez Soliva Isa Fernández Farrés Albert Pariente Pons Cristina Nogales Ana Crespo Menéndez Maider Gastón Cristina Vieites Malvar Julia Antón Morrondo Nanne Broekhof Laurent Gubbels Paulina Jänsch Bernat Ananos Martinez Oriol Reull Dr. Holger Sprengel Alessio D'Antino #startups #foodtech #founders #finance #venturecapital #privateequity #investment #sustainablefood #food

James Ryall provides a fresh take on the cultivated meat sector amidst growing scepticism and questions arising from key industry challenges such as cost, demand and scaleability in a new article in Food & Drink Business. 💡 James outlines how investors’ current reluctance to invest in early-stage cultivated meat startups overlooks significant progress made in areas such as cost reduction, media formulation, bioreactor innovation and bioprocessing software. 📈 With extensive B2B infrastructure now at their disposal, he emphasises how new companies are particularly well-placed to leverage this for innovation and growth. Check it out here 👉 https://lnkd.in/epSbj6ai #cellag #cellularagriculture #futureoffood #climattech #investmentlandscape #scaleup #b2b

Excerpt from last week's FoodTech Weekly conversation (https://lnkd.in/d8FMRMAW) with Nick Wood, COO of Adamo Foods. Nick’s background is in cleantech, where he e.g. co-founded an EV charging startup. He met and worked with Pierre Dupuis, the founder of Adamo, a long time ago: ‘We have a combined passion in meat alternatives, so I watched jealously when Pierre went into food and FoodTech’, Nick says with a laugh. So what problem is Adamo solving? ‘A lot of alt meat products are ultra-processed. Consumers want clean label products. And consumers want whole cuts, but those are hard to do without heavy processing’, Nick explains. Adamo, which was founded in 2021, focuses on biomass fermentation using fungal mycelium. It’s naturally nutritious — high in protein, fiber, B12, iron, and vitamin D. And it allows you to get textures and flavors close to real meat, without using gums, starchers, binders, or other additives: ‘When you bite into the product, it feels like whole-cut meat’, Nick claims and continues: ‘And from a systems point of view, our production requires about 90% lower GHGs vs. animal beef. That’s exciting.’ Adamo, which has a team of experienced food scientists and mycologists, will start selling in food service toward the end of the year in the U.K. After the Adamo Steak, other products will follow; it could be substitutes for e.g. chicken, pork, or fish. ‘Because we’ve developed a unique tech, and will have a global patent, we see opportunities for licensing our tech to other manufacturers across the world; we’re already in various conversations’, Nick says. The company closed a pre-seed round of about £700K in 2023, of which almost half was non-dilutive. Adamo is currently raising a £3M Seed round (again, almost half is grants which have been secured), and is still looking for the last investor. The company is also interested in go-to-market partnerships around R&D, manufacturing, and commercial. Nick can be reached here on LinkedIn.

meati™ Raises $100 Million! 🌿 Embracing Opportunity in Plant-Based Innovation 🌿 Despite the current slowdown in VC investment in plant-based foods, Meati Foods recently secured a $100M Series C round, led by Revolution Growth and Grosvenor Food & AgTech (see article below). Key Takeaways for Startups & Brands: - Innovative Technology Matters: Meati’s MushroomRoot™ tech sets them apart in a crowded market. - Strategic Expansion is Key: Scaling their production and retail presence is driving momentum. - Investor Confidence: Large investments signal that there’s still trust in unique, scalable concepts. At PlantBased Solutions, we understand these trends and can help international plant-based companies launch and thrive in the USA. With experience in launching Better Foods, You Are What You Eat by Shinsegae, we're ready to support your expansion strategy. Let's connect to discuss how we can help find solutions for your business. #PlantBasedSolutions #MeatiFoods #PlantBasedMeat #FoodInnovation #VentureCapital #CPG, #VeganBusiness

Some highlights from FoodTech Weekly #216 (https://lnkd.in/dB7KvAFH) sent Friday morning: 🇩🇪 foodforecast, which uses AI to enable stores to automate ordering and production processes which helps cut food waste, has closed a €3M (appr. $3.3M) round led by SCALEHOUSE Capital and Future Food Fund, and joined by e.g. Blue Horizon Ventures and Aeronaut Invest GmbH 🇮🇹 Foreverland Food, which develops alt chocolate based on carob, has banked €3.4M (appr. $3.7M) in Seed funding from investors including Grey Silo Ventures, Eatable Adventures, Kost Capital, and Newland Syndicate 🇲🇾 Qarbotech has landed a $1.5M Seed extension round for its photosynthesis enhancement technology, which helps boost plant yields by up to 60%, and can cut fertilizer needs by 10-30%. Investors include 500 Global, Better Bite Ventures, ID Capital, EQT Foundation, and Epic Angels 🇮🇱 Better Pulse, which aims to ‘revolutionize plant-based nutrition through its unique Black-eyed pea protein protein’, has secured $400K in funding from the Israel Innovation Authority רשות החדשנות 🇸🇪 Generation Waste, which e.g. provides a SaaS based measurement tool that helps foodservice kitchens cut food waste and boost profitability, has raised  a pre-seed round, backed by e.g. GU Ventures and T-Klein Invest. 🇫🇷 Micropep Technologies has raked in an additional $11M in Series B funding, bringing the total round to $40M. The company develops micropeptide-based crop protection solutions, providing an alternative to agrochemicals. Investors in the round include Corteva Agriscience, Sparkfood, Zebra Impact Ventures, and BPI Green Tech Investments 🇺🇸 Arzeda, which uses AI to design proteins and enzymes for use in e.g. natural sweeteners and biodegradable materials, has been splashed with $38M in a round led by Sofinnova Partners (h/t ClimateHack) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 MiAlgae has reeled in £14M (appr. $18M) in Series A funding to build a commercial-scale facility which will produce omega-3 fatty acids using microalgae fermentation. Investors include e.g. SWEN Capital Partners Blue Ocean, Clay Capital, and Rabo Ventures 💡 Conversation with Karim F Khinouche of Novolyze 🤩 New edition of Alt Protein Careers for Europe launched ...and much more! Subscribe now at: https://lnkd.in/d8mUXXH5 #foodtechweekly #FoodTech #agtech #startups #funding #tech

🌱🥚 FoodTech 500 alum secures funding for its sustainable egg replacer. UOBO, a Barcelona-based food tech startup, has raised €500,000 in seed funding to advance its mission of providing egg alternatives for food manufacturers. Earlier this year, the company launched liquid plant-based eggs for the food service industry, which have been well-received for their ability to replace eggs in various dishes. UOBO has also teamed up with CUBIQ FOODS, a startup specializing in plant-based ingredients, to create an egg-free product for large-scale manufacturers. This partnership aligns with UOBO’s mission to offer sustainable alternatives to traditional egg production. The plant-based egg industry is rapidly growing, with products ranging from liquid eggs to powdered alternatives. With its new funding and key partnerships, UOBO is positioned to lead in developing sustainable, high-quality egg replacements for the food industry. More about UOBO here: https://lnkd.in/eSe4pRyg Read the full vegconomist - the vegan business magazine article here: https://lnkd.in/eaeigm_h #ForwardFooding #FoodTech500 #sustainability #foodtech #innovation #futurefood #foodsystems

🆕 Dealflow.eu’s #Multicorporate #Matchmaking Event dedicated to 🥗🔬 #Foodtech is coming up soon! 📅The event, co-organised with EurA AG, will be held online on 27 November. 👥The goal of the matchmaking event is to bring together EU-funded #innovators and #corporates headquartered in the #EU to foster collaboration on different levels. 🍽️  Sparkfood is a subsidiary of SONAE, a multinational holding managing a diversified portfolio of leading businesses including #food retail. Backed by a long-term value-driven family, Sparkfood funds & fuels the next-generation of Food- & Ag-Tech companies towards a sustainable and healthier future. From acquiring and operating small to mid-cap companies within the food industry to investing and accelerating #startups through early-stage, minority, hands-on #investments, Sparkfood is sparking #innovation to nourish the world. 🍺 Super Bock Group is the largest Portuguese #beverage company. The Super Bock Group is #Beer, bottled mineral Water, Soft Drinks, Wine, and the production of Malt. With a Portuguese majority, 56% of the Super Bock Group’s capital is owned by the VIACER Group and 44% by the Carlsberg Group. 👉 Challenges for the innovators: > Gas fermentation > Pet nutrition > Biomass fermentation > Senior nutrition > AI formulations > Personalized supplements > Alternatives to coffee > Sportive nutrition > Molecular farming > Food waste solutions > New beverages 👉A big thanks to Sparkfood and Super Bock Group for joining us! 📢Are you an innovator in the field of FoodTech? Apply here until 16 November: https://lnkd.in/dqqqB4PJ 📌 More details here: https://lnkd.in/d_w88tMY