3 NOTABLE DEALS IN EUROPE, 3 IN THE REST OF THE WORLD AND 1 ACQUISITION:
🤖 🇫🇷 Bolk, a French robotic food canteen, raised €4M. The startup develops what could be called a robotic salad bar. For those interested in this space, it looks like Chowbotics’ kiosks (acquired recently by DoorDash).
Disclaimer: we are board members and investors to Bolk, and hence not really impartial
🐜 🇩🇰 Enorm, a Danish startup working on insects for animal feed, raised €50M. The money came notably from a large cooperative owned by farmers and specialised in farm supplies.
🧋 🇦🇹 Waterdrop, the Austrian maker of effervescent cubes that flavour water, raised $70M. Waterdrop may be the most successful direct-to-consumer food brand in Europe. And it comes from Austria, a “small” country. With this new funding, Waterdrop wants to increase its presence in the US and Asia while keeping its advance by focusing on R&D.
🧑🌾 🇺🇸 Zero Acre Farms, a US startup using fermentation to create oils and fats, raised $37M. While all the hype is on alternative protein producers (from plant-based brands to cellular agriculture), the other main component of animal products is fat. Today vegetable oils (canola, coco…) are used to replace animal fats in plant-based products (such as dairy or meat alternatives) but are not convincing. They are often both bad for the planet and your health. Zero Acre Farms works on traditional biomass fermentation (no genetic modification and the associated high costs) to produce new healthier, and environment-friendly alternatives.
🛍️ 💪 Nestlé acquired Orgain, a maker of plant-based protein powders and shakes.
🏪 🇺🇸 Crisp, a data management platform for grocery supply chains, raised $35M. It helps both brands and retailers access better insights and forecasts to make inventory decisions.
🌿 📈 Kalera, a vertical farming startup, went public through a SPAC. It is now valued at $375M.
BEYOND FUNDING, WHAT ELSE HAPPENED?
💰 🇪🇺 Is Europe ready for (startup) prime time? It seems that Europe, referred as “yesterday’s continent” is attracting more and more American money (nothing is more true when you look at what’s happening in grocery delivery). US-based VCs are flocking to compete on the old continent as the ecosystem is booming.
🤖 🇳🇴 A fascinating story (a long read to keep for your weekend or next train journey) about the fight between Ocado and AutoStore, the Norwegian company that claims to have invented the concept of robots working on a grid (and which have made Ocado’s robotic warehouses successful).
