Startup news and deals

🇬🇧🍲 HungryPanda, a British food delivery startup, raised $55M to expand its services for the Asian diaspora across new regions. Already operating in 10 countries, it serves 6.5M customers and says it is profitable. Ethnic delivery marketplaces, notably those with a focus on Asian foods, are maybe one of the most overlooked aspects of the FoodTech delivery ecosystem. They can quickly reach impressive volumes amid limited competition.

🇫🇷🥓 La Vie, a French plant-based pork meat startup, raised €25M to scale across Europe. Known for its plant-based bacon and lardons, La Vie is also introducing new products. In an otherwise depressed plant-based ecosystem, this shows that a strong plant-based brand (and good products) can still create a high level of loyalty among consumers.

🇺🇸🦠 Agrospheres, an American crop protection startup, increased its Series B to $37M. It will use the funds to expand its biopesticides production capabilities and bring them to the market.

🇨🇦🦟 Entosystem, a Canadian insect protein producer, raised $43M to expand its production capacity and build a new commercial plant. It targets both the animal feed and organic fertiliser markets.

🇩🇪 🐷 The Raging Pig Company, a German alternative protein startup, raised an undisclosed seed round to expand its vegan pork products and develop new mycelium-based meat analogues.

🇩🇪📊 Foodforecast, a German AI startup, raised €3M to optimise food supply chains with predictive technology. It should help food retailers to reduce waste and automate ordering processes.

🇮🇹 🍫 Foreverland, an Italian foodtech startup, raised €3.4M to expand the production of its carob-based alternative to chocolate.

🇪🇸 🍝 Heura, the Spanish plant-based brand, is expanding into new categories like cheese and pasta, leveraging proprietary technology to combat the “ultra-processed” label and deliver cleaner-label options.

Industry news & trends

🇺🇸 💰PepsiCo will acquired Siete Foods for $1.2 billion, marking its first major food acquisition in five years, to boost its presence in health-focused and Hispanic food markets.

🇺🇸 📢 GoPuff, the US quick-commerce startup, launched new in-app ad solutions and brand shops, offering food and beverage companies enhanced visibility and promotional tools within its delivery platform.