Startup news and deals
๐บ๐ธ๐ฌ Prolific Machines, an American startup, raised $55M for its bioreactor technology for cell cultivation, designed to enhance protein production using light. It has applications both for food and medicine. More broadly, we observe a push towards startups that are developing solutions to scale the production of synthetic biology (through precision fermentation and cellular agriculture) ย as current production levels are both too costly and too small to have any real impact.
๐ฉ๐ฐย ๐บย EvodiaBio, a Danish startup, raised โฌ7M to produce sustainable natural aromas through precision fermentation. Its first ingredient is an aroma for non-alcoholic beers.
๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ซ Kokomodo, an Israeli startup, raised $0.75M for its plant cell culture technology to produce cocoa. It says it should reach price parity with premium cocoa in a few years. The hype around startups applying cellular agriculture to plants (see our insight on this topic here) is impressive. It seems to be largely boosted by the rise in the price of cocoa. As raw materials prices tend to fluctuate widely, will this remain as hot a topic when prices will fall?
๐จ๐ฆย ๐พ IntelliCulture, a Canadian startup, raised $2.5M for its software optimising equipment and crop management for high-value crops.
๐บ๐ธ๐ท Lumo, an American startup, raised $7M for its smart irrigation technology to optimise water use in vineyards.
๐ฎ๐ณย ๐พ Fyllo, an Indian startup, raised $4M for its platform for farmers using AI and IoT to enhance crop productivity and profitability.
๐บ๐ธย ๐ฅย Another bankruptcy: Takeoff, a US-based startup developing automated micro-fulfilment e-commerce grocery solutions, is seeking to sell its assets.
๐ซ๐ท๐ฟ Mo.del, a French startup, raised โฌ2M to industrialise its “Viti-Tunnel”, a device for protecting vineyards from bad weather while reducing pesticide use.
๐ฎ๐ฑย ๐ฅฉย Aleph Farms, an Israeli startup and one of the worldโs leading cultivating meat players, is laying off 30% of its workforce to focus on an โasset lightโ strategy. Like many startups in this space, it faces difficulties scaling and raising money.
Regulation & public report
๐บ๐ธย ๐งย Poppi, a US-based beverage startup, is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging its claims about prebiotic benefits are misleading. Poppi reached $100M in sales, making it one of the fastest-growing beverage brands in the US and a beacon of the healthy / better-for-you category.
Industry news & trends
๐จ๐ญ๐ตย As birthrates fall, Nestlรฉ wants to focus on the rising number of elderly people, notably in developed economies.
๐บ๐ธย ๐ณย QR codes on tables replacing menus have been lost: in many locations, guests have complained enough for โold-schoolโ menus to be reintroduced.
๐บ๐ธย ๐ย Dominoโs is using an AI to anticipate pizza orders before they are actually made. We canโt stop progress, isnโt it? Next, AI will have them deliver a pizza before we know we want it.
