Earlier this week, Zepto, an Indian “instant delivery” e-grocer, secured funding for its Series D round. Robinhood, a Colombian “ghost kitchen” company, raised cash to extend its network across Latin America. Silicon Valley startups VitroLabs and Stanford University have raised their first round of funding, respectively.
Foodtech startup funding
“instant” grocery provider Zepto secures a $200 million Series D investment round. Y Combinator Continuity, Zepto’s longtime investor, led the financing, valuing Zepto at $900 million. (Reuters)
Series B funding for Clerk totals $30 million. An Austin, Texas-based business is digitalizing grocery shops. In this case, Sageview Capital was the one that raised the money. (TechCrunch)
Co-led by UBS O’Connor and Level One Fund, Voyage Foods has raised $36 million in its first financing round. By expanding its food tech company that recreates famous dishes like chocolate and peanut butter, Voyage Foods will be able to serve its customers better. (Food Dive)
E-grocer Pasarnow has raised a Series A round of investment totalling $9.5 million. The East Ventures Growth Fund has provided the vast majority of the round’s funding. (DealStreetAsia)
Kraver’s Kitchen has secured $3 million in Series A funding to extend its cloud kitchen operations. Kaya Founders, Oak Drive Ventures, and Foxmont Capital were all part of the round Quest Ventures headed. (Asian technology)
Alt-dairy startup Fermify has closed a pre-seed round of funding. Casein, a vital component in cow’s milk, is being “cultivated” outside the animal by the Vienna-based business. The financing was co-led by Übermorgen Ventures and BackBone Ventures, with Kale United and other investors participating. In bags made by Melt&Marble, a vegan company, Precision fermentation was used to create a plant-based beef fat worth €5 million ($5.3 million). The round was headed by Lever VC, with Be8 Ventures, Good Startup, and other investors joining in. (The Spoon’s))
Agtech startup funding
Solinftec, a digital farm management business, has raised $60 million in funding from Lightsmith Group. To increase the reach of its digital ag platform in North and South America, the Brazilian business plans to employ the cash raised. Disclosure: AgFunder, the parent company of AFN, is a major shareholder in the Mexican firm Solinftec. (AFN)
The company VitroLabs has raised $46 million in its first round of funding to produce cultured leather. Leading the band were Agronomics and BESTSELLER’s Invest FWD, together with Leonardo DiCaprio, Khosla Ventures, Kering, and Regeneration. VC. (VitroLabs)
An investment of $7.5 million in Verge Ag’s operations-planning software for agricultural equipment has been made. Fall-Line Capital, SP Ventures, and GrainInnovate all participated in the investment Yamaha Motor Ventures headed. (Betakit)
Infrascreen’s efficiency-enhancing greenhouse nanomaterial gets $1.5 million. Infrascreen’s seed round was co-led by Investbridge Capital and ACE & Company, which will allow the company to “deploy units” to greenhouse clients. (AFN)
Other news
Agricultural chemist Syngenta has received a $4.5 billion loan connected to environmental sustainability. If specified sustainability performance goals are met in a given year, the facility has a feature that reduces interest margin. (Bloomberg)
According to a recent study, “the majority” of US farmers who apply for conservation programmes are turned down. Smaller, less polluting agricultural businesses are being “misdirected” by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy study. Ingredients business Tate & Lyle will purchase Nutrition, a producer of chickpea protein. Tate & Lyle’s decision to distribute Nutriati’s functional proteins and flours to manufacture alternative meat and plant-based foods came six months ago. Using the Food Navigator,
The E-FISHient Protein project was launched by BioMeat and the Volcani Center today. Non-animal serums will be used in the joint venture’s efforts to curb overfishing across the globe. Her Majesty, the Green King
The Oman Investment Authority joins forces with alternative protein firm MycoTechnology. Dates grown locally in Oman will be used to create and market mushroom-based protein in a new facility. “Farm-to-table” platform TaniHub has left the direct-to-consumer sector, according to MycoTechnology. Instead, the startup will provide businesses with locally sourced fresh vegetables sourced directly from farmers. The well-known VC, The new Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, will receive $1.1 billion from John Doerr. This is Stanford University’s first new school in 70 years, which intends to speed up the development of climate change solutions.