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16 FoodTech news to know this week (2025 – week #16)

Published on April 14, 2025

Startup Funding News

🇮🇸 🐟 First Water, an Iceland-based company, raised €39M to expand its land-based salmon farms. Land-based aquaculture has become one of the cornerstones of Europe’s agrifoodtech ecosystem in just a year with hundreds of millions invested.

🇬🇧 🐾 Untamed, a British startup, raised €11.6M to scale its D2C cat food business built around human-grade ingredients. It will use the funds to expand across Europe and ramp up R&D. Also, Different Dog, another British startup raised €11M to scale its hand-cooked pet meals made with human-grade ingredients.
D2C pet food continues to attract attention and a lot of funding. In a time when other D2C investments are going down, investors are betting that “pet parents” won’t reduce their spending on their beloved animals.

🇮🇱 🎙️ Auto, an Israeli startup, raised $15M Series A for its AI-powered voice assistant platform, used by quick-service restaurants to automate order taking.

🇰🇷 🧫 INTAKE, a South Korean startup, raised $9.2M to commercialize its “precision-fermented” dairy, meat, and egg proteins.

🇨🇦 🌱 AdvancedAg (Canada) raised $2M to expand its microbial biofertilizer business.

🇦🇺 🌱 Veridi, an Australian startup, raised $1.7M to develop machine learning-powered diagnostics for soil health.

🇮🇳 📱 AgroStar, an Indian startup, raised an additional $6.7M (in an extension of its Series E) for its digital platform for smallholder farmers.

🇺🇸 🍔 Blackbird raised $50M for its blockchain-based restaurant payments and loyalty app, already adopted by 1,000+ US locations.

🇫🇷 🐛 Ÿnsect, a French startup on the verge of bankruptcy, raised a €10M bridge round as it seeks more funding or an acquirer to value its assets.

🇺🇸 💧Lucky Energy raised $14M to expand its energy water brand, which combines natural caffeine, electrolytes, and sparkling water.

 

Acquisitions and Partnerships

🇺🇸 🥗 US salad giant Taylor Farms acquired California startup FarmWise, a startup known for its AI-powered robotic weeders, which had been facing some difficulties.

🇺🇸🇨🇭 🤝 Nestlé invested ~$100M in food delivery startup Wonder, forming a partnership to expand Wonder’s business model to venues like hotels and hospitals.

🇺🇸 🍿 Hershey will acquire Lesser Evil, a better-for-you snack brand known for its organic popcorn. The move is another clear sign that big CPGs are actively seeking to expand their portfolio of clean-label, healthy, and indulgent brands.

 

Leading Companies & Trends

🇩🇰🇩🇪 🥛 Arla and DMK are planning to merge, forming a European dairy super-cooperative with €19B in sales and 12,000+ farmers.

🇸🇪🇪🇺 🌾 Lantmännen, a Swedish company, secured a €50M loan from the European Investment Bank to build a pea protein facility producing isolates for meat and dairy alternatives. It shows the EU’s growing commitment to plant-based alternatives.

🇯🇵 🍵 Matcha demand skyrockets, triggering fears of a shortage in Japan.

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