Chile’s Luyef Receives $1.25M to Develop Nutrients for Cultivated Meat Using Fermentation and Agro By-Products
Luyef (previously Luyef Biotechnologies), a biotech startup focused on cellular agriculture based in Santiago de Chile, has received two substantial grants totaling $1.25 million to accelerate cultivated meat production (detailed information about the grants below). The Ganesha Lab, LATAM’s global biotech scale-up for science and technology-based startups, announced the investment. Kris Blanchard, a biotechnology engineer from the University of Chile, co-founded Luyef in 2020, participating in The Ganesha Lab’s accelerator program …
APAC: Investments in Innovative Food Make “Remarkable Recovery” in 2024, Increasing by 85%
The annual Asia-Pacific AgriFoodTech report by AgFunder has revealed a partial recovery in innovative food investments, a category that encompasses cultivated meat, novel ingredients, and plant-based proteins. $204 million was raised by innovative foods companies in the APAC region between January and the end of October, up 85% compared to the same period in 2023. Furthermore, 59 deals were made during this time, up from 49 last year. Notably, Singaporean …
Farmless Secures €1M EU Grant to Validate its “Dramatically Efficient” Landless Protein Production
Dutch fermentation startup Farmless has secured a €1 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Farmless produces functional proteins with a complete amino acid profile for the F&B industry. Its air-based fermentation process uses microorganisms powered by CO2, hydrogen, nitrogen, and renewable energy-produced feedstock rather than sugar to produce protein “dramatically” more efficiently than animal farming. With the funds, the startup will demonstrate and optimize its fermentation method …
US DoD Injects Millions into The Every Co. & Other Biotechs, Says the “Next Industrial Revolution Will Be a Biomanufacturing Revolution”
San Francisco-based The Every Company has received a $2 million award from the US Department of Defense (DoD) to explore establishing a precision fermentation facility in the US. With the funding, EVERY will conduct a feasibility study for a manufacturing site for its two main fermentation-derived ingredients: OvoBoost, a highly soluble protein for protein-boosting, and OvoPro (ovalbumin) for egg and egg white replacement in food and beverages. In addition, the …
Cradle Secures $73M to Revolutionize Planetary Health with AI-Driven Protein Engineering
AI biotech company Cradle has raised $73 million in a Series B funding round led by IVP and backed by Index Ventures and Kindred Capital, bringing its total funding to over $100 million. Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Zurich, Switzerland, Cradle was founded by ex-Googlers Stef van Grieken (CEO) and Daniel Danciu (CTO) in 2021 to make biology engineering more accessible and efficient with AI. Its team comprises machine learning …
French Cultivated Leather Startup Faircraft Secures €15M to Meet Demand for Ethical Materials
France’s Faircraft, a cultivated leather startup based in Paris, announces it has raised €15 million to expand its team and scale up operations to meet the increasing demand for sustainable materials. Faircraft was founded in 2021 by CEO Haïkel Balti, an engineer in materials science, and biochemist César Valencia Gallardo. Leveraging cell biology and unique tissue engineering techniques, they aim to offer a new class of materials with a lower …
Thailand’s Leading Meat Company Betagro Invests in Meatable to Fuel Asian Expansion
Dutch cultivated meat company Meatable announces it has received a strategic investment from Betagro Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Betagro, a major agri-industrial and food company based in Thailand, producing and distributing meat (chicken and pork) and animal feed. The news comes six months after Meatable onboarded meat industry veteran Jeff Tripitcian, with over 25 years of experience in the American meat industry with roles including president of …
Investment Climate Podcast: Anik Thaler of Fabas, How to Get Funded in 2024
In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding alt proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful climate tech CEOs and leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Series 2, Episode 6: Anik Thaler …
Investment Climate Podcast: Lewis Dunnigan of Bygen, How to Get Funded in 2024
In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding alt proteins in 2024 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful climate tech CEOs and leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. Series 2, Episode 4: Lewis …
Revo Foods & Paleo Unveil €2.2M EU-Backed Project for Salmon Alternatives with Animal-Free Heme
Two alternative protein startups, Austria’s Revo Foods, a manufacturer of 3D-printed vegan seafood, and Belgium’s Paleo, a precision fermentation startup developing animal-free heme, have joined forces to advance sustainable and realistic seafood alternatives. In a project initiated earlier this year and funded by the European Union’s Eurostars program with €2.2 million, the companies are working to develop a “unique” animal-free salmon heme for Revo Foods’ 3D salmon fillet. Speaking to …