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13 FoodTech news to know this week (2025 – week #25)

Published on June 16, 2025

Startup Funding News

🇵🇹 🍼 PFX Biotech, a Portuguese startup, raised €5M (half funding, half grants) to scale bioidentical human milk proteins via precision fermentation, including lactoferrin. Lactoferrin is having a moment with numerous precision fermentation startups refocusing on this protein, which has multiple immunity benefits for infant formula, elderly nutrition, performance, and beyond.

 

🇮🇱 🐝 Beewise, an Israeli startup, raised $50M to scale its autonomous and smart beehives.

 

🇺🇸 🤖 Coco Robotics, a US startup, raised $80M to keep deploying its sidewalk delivery robots across more US cities.

 

🇿🇦 🌽 Nile, a South African AgTech marketplace, raised $11.3M to expand its B2B digital trade marketplace for food produce across Africa.

 

🇮🇱 🧠 Tastewise, an Israeli startup, raised $50M to further develop its AI platform that helps food companies analyse new consumer trends.

 

🇬🇧 🌾 RootWave, a British startup, raised $15M to expand its weeding tractor-trailers into the US and EU.

 

🇮🇱 💊 Lembas, an Israeli, emerged from stealth with $3.6M raised to develop its bioactive peptide that triggers the production of the GLP-1 hormone (which is linked to weight loss). It is part of the wave of players positioning themselves either as GLP-1 companions or boosters.

 

🇳🇱 💧 Aquablu, a Dutch startup, raised €7M to scale its smart water dispenser platform.

 

🇳🇱 🍺 Tebi, a Dutch startup, raised €30M for its operating system (to manage payments, bookings, inventory…) for small hospitality businesses, including restaurants and coffee shops. We observe a growing number of players like Tebi, which address increasingly more well-defined out-of-home businesses with their one-stop-shop “operating systems”.

 

🇳🇱 🌾 Polysense, a Dutch startup, raised €2M to deploy its machine vision system for quality inspection in food production.

 

Acquisition & Partnerships

🇺🇸 🌽 Phytoform, a US crop biotech startup, announced a partnership with Corteva to develop AI-enhanced, disease-resistant corn varieties.

 

🇬🇧 🇩🇪 Entocycle, a British insect-farming startup, announced a partnership with Siemens. The German leader will support the startup in its efforts to digitise its operations.

 

🇺🇸 📦 DoorDash, the American restaurant and grocery delivery giant, acquired Symbiosys, a startup specialised in retail online search ads, for $175M. It will allow Doordash to deepen its retail media and advertising business.

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What we did:

  • Mapping of the AgTech ecosystem: startups, research regulators, and other leading companies.
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  • Education of the board through a couple of workshops to define the perimeter
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  • Creating a consensus on which categories to prioritise and how to address them.
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What we do (ongoing mission on a subscription model):

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What we did:

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