burger menu
✕
Subscribe
✕
Subscribe

20 FoodTech insights and deals to know this week (2026 – week #24)

NL-DigitalFoodLab-deals-w24-2026-praise-energy-ryl-tea-lune-and-wild

Published on June 8, 2026

💸 Funding News

🪲🇫🇷 Innovafeed, a French startup, raised €51M from existing investors (including commodity giant ADM) for its insect farming operations. It announces simultaneously 60 job cuts, showing that it suffers from the headwinds the insect industry faces.

 

🐄🇺🇸 701x, a US startup, raised $10M for its connected ear tags for the beef industry.

 

🌿🇧🇪 Sensie, a Belgian startup, raised €500K to bring real-time plant intelligence to greenhouse growers. The Ghent-based startup monitors crop stress signals before they become visible, enabling growers to intervene earlier and reduce yield losses and pesticide use.

 

🤖🇺🇸 Marble Technologies, a US startup, raised $30M to automate meatpacking with AI-powered robotics. It builds lines that sort, check vacuum seals, and route cuts of meat, and is already processing ~3% of daily US beef production.

 

💳🇺🇸 Forage, a US startup, raised $40M to modernise SNAP (food stamps for low-income US households) payment infrastructure.

 

🍽️🇫🇷 Innovorder, a French startup, raised €20M for the European expansion of its all-in-one tech platform for restaurant chains.

 

♻️🇩🇪 Freshflow, a German startup, raised $10M to scale its inventory management platform for grocery retailers. It helps them reduce food waste by optimising ordering for perishables .

 

🥃🇺🇸 Scotch, a US startup, raised $20M for its operating system for independent liquor stores, combining payments and back-office software managing the complex regulatory requirements of alcohol retail.

 

🛒🇮🇳 FirstClub, an Indian startup, raised $55M at a $255M valuation (doubling the valuation since last September) to scale its online grocery platform focused on quality produce.

 

🍵🇺🇸 The Ryl Company, a US startup, raised $20M to grow the retail distribution of its Ryl Tea ready-to-drink tea brand.

 

🍫🇮🇳 Phab, an Indian startup, raised $4M for its high-protein snacking brand (protein bars, milkshakes, snacks).

 

👶🇬🇧 Lune & Wild, a UK startup, raised £2M to scale production and expand retail distribution for its premium baby and children’s food brand.

 

⭐ Acquisitions, Regulation, Bankruptcies & Partnerships

🥛🇫🇷🇬🇧 Lactalis, the French dairy giant, has acquired Protein Works — a UK-based D2C protein brand (powders, bars, shakes) generating ~€65M in annual revenue.

 

🌱🇫🇷 Genesis and ReGeneration, two French startups, have merged to form Hedge, and combine their expertise in regenerative agriculture practices, notably measurement and certification.

 

🧫🇪🇺 PROSCALE, a European research consortium, received €7M in EU public funding to scale single-cell protein production from food industry waste streams.

 

🥤🇩🇪🇨🇭 Nestlé has acquired 100% of Yfood, completing the acquisition process initiated in 2023. The German meal-replacement brand generated ~€150M in sales in 2025, with double-digit growth. This follows Danone’s acquisition of Huel (YFood’s main rival) last month.

 

🥗🇺🇸 Clover Food Lab, a US vegetarian fast-casual chain, nearly closed after 17 years, but reversed course after securing a deal with a “mission-aligned investor.” This comes as an additional step in a complicated story: the brand filed for bankruptcy in 2023, emerged from bankruptcy in 2024, and is now facing closure again.

 

🍌🇨🇭🇺🇸  Chiquita (a leading Switzerland-based banana producer and distributor) has acquired Hazel Technologies, a US startup, known for its modified atmosphere technology that increases the shelf-life of produce.

 

📊 Macro Trends

🍺🌍 Beer giants are betting on the 2026 World Cup to reverse a structural decline, with analysts projecting an extra 1 billion pints consumed during the tournament. It could offer a rare volume boost, as global beer volumes fell by 1% in 2025.

 

✝️🇺🇸 Christian-branded energy drinks are emerging as a niche but growing trend in the US. Brands like Yahweh and Praise Energy use Jesus and faith messaging to position themselves at the intersection of the energy drink boom and identity-driven consumer marketing.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

Abonnez vous à notre NL mensuelle en Français

Related posts

You're in a good company

Join the 60+ clients of Digital FoodLab: leading agrifood companies, retailers, banks, investors, startups, and public organisations.

✕

Use case: project for a global F&B company looking to map its AgTech innovation ecosystem and the best startups to partner with

What we did:

  • Mapping of the AgTech ecosystem: startups, research regulators, and other leading companies.
  • Discussion to select areas to focus on.
  • Analysis of the information to reveal the trends and a model to analyse eventual partners.
  • A workshop to validate the opportunities based on our recommendations.
  • Scouting of relevant partners followed by introductions.

Results:

  • Mapping the different categories of innovations in AgTech that should be considered now to create long-term benefits for the business.
  • Identification of key partners (an incubator and a couple of startups).
✕

Use case: project for a CPG company on the healthy ageing ecosystem

What we did:

  • Education of the board through a couple of workshops to define the perimeter
  • Identification of key opportunities and threats created by long-term evolutions (technologies, business models, behavioural changes).
  • Deep dives on each of the priority categories.
  • Co-construction of a vision on how the company should address these challenges.
  • Identification of partners (startups, incubators, funds) to move forward.

Results:

  • Creating a consensus on which categories to prioritise and how to address them.
  • Implementation of an open innovation strategy through the development of partnerships.
✕

Use case: project for a global CPG company to develop a strategy on the healthy ageing ecosystem

What we do (ongoing mission on a subscription model):

  • Kick-off where we present an overview of the AgriFoodTech ecosystem to select with the client the categories to cover and for each, the level of information required.
  • Monthly newsletter: each month we send a newsletter with the articles that we have gathered ranked by relevance, their summaries, and a layer of analysis.
  • Database: we set up a personalised database that will be filled month after month with the information gathered on the companies identified for the watch.
  • Workshops: twice a year with the client’s innovation team and other “innovation curious” team members, we present an overview of the evolutions, key trends and a dashboard of the topics followed by the watch.

Results:

  • A clear, regular and evolutive tool to follow what is happening in terms of innovation on key topics.
  • A forum (through the workshops) to discuss innovation trends and new opportunities.
✕

Use case: opportunity screening for an ingredient company

What we did:

  • Kick-off to define the perimeter of the ecosystem studied.
  • Mapping of the different trends shaping the innovation ecosystem of the client.
  • Analysis of the trends on DigitalFoodLab’s trend curve and other relevant frameworks.
  • Workshop to discuss DigitalFoodLab’s recommendations on key trends to prioritise

Results:

  • Shared view of the innovation ecosystem for the client with a view of the trends to prioritize.
  • Clear document (personalised trend curve) that can be easily shared internaly to explain the company’s innovation choices and which can be then updated each year.
✕

Use case: scouting for an agriculture coop

What we did:

  • Kick-off to define the perimeter of the client, the goals of the scouting (partnerships) and the criteria on which startups should be evaluated.
  • Set-up scouting: we selected the first batch of 20+ key startups following the criteria of the client.
  • On-going scouting: then we set up a quarterly scouting of about ten startups.
  • For each scouted startup, we created an ID card with key information such as the business and technological maturity, funding, and corporate partnerships. We also added an explanation of why we selected this startup.

Results:

  • An ongoing and evolutive scouting are matching the client's criteria and its capabilities in terms of deal flow.
✕

Use case: working on an acquisition process for a CPG company

What we did:

  • Kick-off to define what the client is seeking, notably in terms of maturity.
  • Workshop with the client based on a mapping of the different innovation ecosystems adjacent to its activities to select some priorities and discuss inspiring examples of startup acquisition stories.
  • Identification of 20+ targets.
  • Workshop to select the most relevant to engage with.
  • DigitalFoodLab worked as a sparing partner during the acquisition process, notably to help design how the acquired startup could be integrated into the overall company’s strategy.

Results:

  • Different results from traditional M&A processes with a focus on the client’s innovation strategy.
  • Identification of a good match for an acquisition.
✕

Use case: market due diligence on sugar alternatives

What we did:

  • Kick-off with the client to discuss its interest on this category, its expectations and existing level of information (notably on the target company).
  • Mapping of the ecosystem to analyse the different existing alternatives and technologies to compare them.
  • Interview (calls) with relevant startups made by our internal biotechnology expert.
  • Recommendation on whether to invest or not.

Results:

  • Clear view of the ecosystem and of the reasons to believe (or not) in each sub-category.
  • Enforceable recommendations based on facts and expertise.
✕
Get in touch

5 rue Paul Dupuy
75016 Paris, France