Rubio Impact Ventures’ Post

I am very pleased to share that Invest-NL has invested EUR 10m in the EUR 40m funding round as announced today by Mosa Meat. Mosa Meat is a prominent player in the emerging cultered meat sector. This funding round will give them the financial headroom to advance their product and process development. Congratulations to the Mosa team: Maarten Bosch, Mark Post and Peter Verstrate. We are pleased to be part of your exciting journey. We are joined in this funding round by existing investors Lowercarbon Capital and MVentures and new investors LIOF, Limburgs Energie Fonds (LEF) B.V., and Nutreco, to name a few. It was real fun working on this transaction with my colleagues Willemijn van der Elst, Marlou Kortstee, and David de Vries. Why an investment in Mosa Meat? We all know that the current meat industry is simply not sustainable. Cultured meat (real meat, but from a bioreactor) addresses all the issues associated with the current meat industry: it significantly reduces GHG-production, it significantly reduces land use and water use, it eliminates the use of antibiotics, and, last but not least, it significantly improves animal wellfare. Only a few cows are needed for sesame-seed-sized biopsies to run the entire industry. These cows can be pampered. As with all new technologies, this requires hard work, patience, capital, and a developed eco-system. From feedstock (media on which the fat and muscle cells grow), to bioreactor parties, to end-consumers. Last but not least, it requires government and government bodies to approve this cultured meat as a novel food. Unfortunately, the EU is slow in adopting novel foods, with lengthy and unpredictable procedures. Singapore and the US are well ahead from that perspective. We believe Mosa Meat, as one of the pioneers, and with an experienced team, is well positioned to become a successful player in this industry. This investment complements our growing alternative protein portfolio which also includes Meatable. The market finds these types of investments challenging (and they are right). At Invest-NL, we are happy to play our role to mobilize these challenging, but pivotal markets by investing in companies that are at the forefront of the significant transitions we need to make as society.

💼🚀 This week's highlights in Funding, Acquisition, and Finance: Renaissance BioScience's Yeast Innovation Funding: The Vancouver-based yeast bioengineering firm, Renaissance BioScience, secures CAD $232,000 from the Canadian Food Innovation Network to develop a game-changing yeast solution for plant-based proteins. 🌱🔬💸 Odyssey's Energizing Investment: Odyssey, pioneering functional mushroom-infused energy drinks, wraps up a vigorous $6 million funding round, fueling its market expansion. 🍄⚡💰 ProducePay's Series D Triumph: Los Angeles-based agtech leader ProducePay bags $38M in Series D funding, led by Syngenta Group Ventures, to revolutionize the produce payment and supply chain. 🌾📈💵 The Future Food Fund II's Ecological Impact: The Netherlands' Future Food Fund II hits its 40 million euros target, backing agricultural and food tech innovations with an eye on ecological sustainability. 🌍🌱🚀 Whole Earth Brands' Sweet Deal: In a strategic move to go private, Whole Earth Brands, known for Equal and Wholesome Sweeteners, agrees to a takeover at $4.875 per share by Sababa Holdings affiliate. 🍯📊🔒 #YeastInnovation #PlantBasedProtein #Bioengineering #SustainableFood #TechForGood

The review by Tesi (Suomen Teollisuussijoitus Oy) also shows that the group of companies in the Finnish FoodTech field is diverse and represents the value chain of food production at various points. Most companies focus on the beginning of the food value chain (AgTech) and the development of new food products and raw materials (Next-Gen Food - a category on which BioMush falls into). Next-Gen food companies leverage science and technology in developing new ingredients and food products. Usually plant-based products and cell farming companies are emphasized in this category. Many of these companies, like BioMush, have a research background. 📝 “When excluding Wolt and RELEX Solutions from the funding data, the FoodTech categories that have raised most of the funding are AgTech and Next-Gen Food. These categories form around 80% of the total funding raised (c. 270 M€) between 2015 - 2022.” Read the full review: https://lnkd.in/dTNVmJDK #FoodTech #futurefood #NextGenFood #BioMush

AGRANA and Raiffeisen-Holding Niederösterreich-Wien invest EUR 5 million in FoodLabs fund We are pleased to announce that AGRANA and Raiffeisen-Holding Niederösterreich-Wien are each investing EUR 2.5 million in the third fund of the German investment company FoodLabs.  FoodLabs, with a broad portfolio of more than 60 companies, including some in the food and agricultural technology sectors, is among the most active Food & Climate funds in Euope. "For AGRANA, as a processor of agricultural raw materials and manufacturer of a wide range of products for the food industry, innovations in both agricultural research and food technology are particularly interesting," says Stephan Buettner Büttner, CEO of AGRANA. Together with FoodLabs, we can continue to boost our innovative strength and leverage the inputs of creative start-ups to further develop our portfolio. 🚀 ➡️ More information available at: https://direc.to/mj57 (📷 Raiffeisen | Roland Rudolph) #AGRANA #fruit #starch #sugar #Innovation #FoodTech #AGRANA #Raiffeisen #FoodLabs

🌟 The Future of Protein Production Chicago takes place next week on April 24th and 25th, so this is your final chance to book your spot at this exciting event. Get your pass today: https://hubs.ly/Q02t7MB40 In our dedicated Startup Symposium, we have 15 companies and 15 expert adjudicators, with three sessions on Day 1 alone. Good luck to Vahid Hosseini from Hatchless, Andrew Sayles at Livestock Laboratories, Adam Yee at Sobo Foods, Luiza Villela from unClassic Foods, Panos Kostopulos from Proxy Foods, Deb Anderson from The Protein Brewery, Zoe Yu Ting Law from New Wave Biotech, Haotian Guo from Ailurus Bio, and Paul Schierz from Arborea! On Day 2, it's time for Vanessa Small from Alcheme Bio, Stephanie Bernstein from AQUA Cultured Foods, Candice Choi from Geem, Guy Furman from Windy City Mushroom, Christie Lagally from Rebellyous Foods, and Aleh Manchuliantsau from PLANETARIANS to impress the judges. And while we're here, a special thank you to our judges, including Kantha Shelke from The Johns Hopkins University, Michael Spinelli from NewEpoch, Stu Strumwasser from Green Circle Capital Partners, Jim Slama from Naturally Chicago, Steve Gaither from 1o8, Nate Crosser from Blue Horizon, Shayna Harris from Supply Change Capital, Jamie Valenti-Jordan from Catapult, Steve Simitzis from Solvable Syndicate, Francisco Codoner from ScaleUp Bio, Andrew Bluestein from Bluestein Ventures, Scott Glassman from Black Ink Ops and Joshua Errett. Aside from our Startup Symposium, this dynamic two-day conference features over 85 industry expert speakers discussing the future of protein production. Topics will include regulations, retail & food service, processing technologies, next-generation manufacturing, collaborative value chains, facility development & scaling, and much more. Gain insights and network with the best in the business. Register now before it's too late! #ProteinProduction #ChicagoEvent #AlternativeProteins #NetworkingOpportunity

Excited to share Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund's latest investment in Triplebar. Diversification of protein supply will become more important to feed the world sustainably. Triplebar's technology enables start-ups and incumbents to cut costs for production methods such as precision fermentation or cell-based to produce non-animal derived ingredients. #foodtech #foodinnovation #innovation #biotech #sustainability

📢 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📢 We are thrilled to announce that NoPalm Ingredients has secured a €5 million Seed funding round! 🎉 This milestone will accelerate our mission to provide a sustainable, local, and circular solution to supply the growing demand for palm oil. This funding round was led by Rubio Impact Ventures, with participation from Fairtree Elevant Ventures, Oost NL, Willow Capital Investments, and Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). This support is a testament to our innovative approach and the critical need for sustainable alternatives in the industry. 🌎 “Palm oil is cheap, versatile, and used in about 60% of fast-moving consumer good. However, with demand rising 4% annually and 22 million extra tons needed by 2030 there is no strategy to supply this additional demand sustainably. NoPalm Ingredients has developed THE pioneering palm oil alternative that is both a true drop-in replacement and cost-competitive to conventional palm.”, says our co-founder & CEO Lars Langhout. 🚀 “This funding will help us scale to 50m³ this year, positioning NoPalm Ingredients as a trusted partner in the food and personal care industries and preparing for the final investment decision on our demo factory.”, adds our co-founder and COO Prof Dr Jeroen Hugenholtz. 🙏A big thank you to everyone who has been involved in our thrilling journey. A special thank you to our investors for believing in our vision and to our incredible team for their dedication. Together, we are creating a greener future, one drop of sustainable oil at a time. ➡️Find more information here: https://lnkd.in/eXk3hXKF 🌍💚 #Sustainability #Innovation #GreenTech #SeedFunding #PalmOilAlternative #NoPalmIngredients #FutureOfFood

We are beyond excited to announce that we have completed a $40 million Series A funding round to drive commercialization and manufacturing of egg protein via #PrecisionFermentation!! 🥚✨🎈 The Series A funding round was led by NordicNinja VC, a Japanese-Nordic VC investing in the most promising companies within sustainability and digital society, with participation from Tesi, EIT Food, existing investors Agronomics Limited, Maki.vc, Holdix and Turret, Business Finland and certain strategic partners. “Onego Bio is taking all the right steps to commercialize in record time. They are a next-generation precision fermentation company, with a clear path to industrialization, go-to-market, and profitability. With technology that is designed to scale and such a strong team, they really stand out,” said Tomosaku Sohara, Managing Partner, Nordic Ninja. “In less than two years, Onego is already working with major global food companies and is staged to disrupt the $330 billion egg market and create system level change, accelerating the green transition.” “We have been highly impressed with Onego’s capabilities and vision from the very beginning. By repurposing a well-established technology from the enzyme industry for food protein production, they are well-positioned to scale to the massive volumes needed to future-proof the supply of the world’s most versatile and popular food protein” – Jim Mellon, Executive Chairman and co-founder of Agronomics. This significant milestone wouldn't be possible without the key ingredients in our recipe for success; our passionate team and like-minded partners who share our vision of systemic change in the food system. This funding round fuels our US expansion and industrial scale-up, accelerating our mission of delivering the industry a reliable, sustainable, and fully functional ingredient even further. 🤍 Read the whole press release here: https://lnkd.in/d5r8WkF7 Maija Itkonen Christopher Landowski #Bioalbumen #futureoffood #SeriesA 

In the #singlecell #protein industry, established companies and emerging startups are partnering with research institutions, universities and governments to secure R&D funding. This trend highlights the need for leaders who blend #technical #expertise with strong stakeholder relationships across #consumer #products, #ingredients, #animalfeed and #health products. Monicca Yan #agribusiness #executivesearch #fluentinfindingleaders

Here's what you can find in issue #69 of the Better Bioeconomy newsletter: BIO BUZZ: 🥮 Solar Foods and Ajinomoto introduced two Solein-powered products in Singapore under Ajinomoto's new brand Atlr.72 | Pasi Vainikka 🥔 ReaGenics created cell-based potatoes with 31% protein content, much higher than the typical 2% | Michael Kagan 🥛 Tomorrow Farms launched Bored Cow animal-free milk into Target, featuring Perfect Day's precision-fermented whey protein | Ben Berman 🤝 Primient and Synonym teamed up to accelerate bioproduct innovation and commercialization in the US | Jim Stutelberg, Edward Shenderovich, Joshua Lachter 🍝 EQUII expanded its microbial protein product range into pasta rich in protein and fibre | Baljit Singh Ghotra, Monica Bhatia 🌽 BioLumic partnered with seed companies to improve corn productivity using light-activated Genetic Expression Trait™ technology | Steve Sibulkin 🧫 CytoNest, Inc. launches 3D fibre scaffold for cultivated meat and seafood as first commercial product | Nataraja Yadavalli, Sergiy Minko 🔬 Rostock University Medical Centre is researching cultivated meat to boost sustainable production and cut emissions | Innocent Meat , Laura Gertenbach 🇧🇷 Typcal pioneers mycelium fermentation in LATAM using a unique organism that grows rapidly on a variety of feedstocks | Paulo Ibri, Eduardo Bittencourt Sydney 👩🏽🌾 RESPECTfarms enables farmers to integrate cellular agriculture into their operations | Ralf Becks, Ira van Eelen, Florentine Zieglowski, Ruud Zanders MACRO STUFF: 🇦🇺 Why Australia is strongly positioned to lead the alt protein sector | Simon Eassom 🇨🇳 China surpasses the US in protein consumption, driven by plant-based dominance BIO BUCKS: 🇪🇺 European fermentation startups raised €164M in H1 2024, surpassing the €100M raised in all of 2023 | Helene Grosshans, The Good Food Institute Europe Join the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit: 🤝 Meet 1000+ global leaders who are accelerating climate adaptation strategies for food security in Asia. Use my discount code ‘BIO10’ to save 10%, register here: https://bit.ly/3VRFdRc Check out the latest in biotech shaping the future of food: