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13 FoodTech news to know this week (2025 – week #28)

Published on July 7, 2025

Startup Funding News

🇵🇱 🐛 Proteine Resources, a Polish startup, raised €9.5M to build an automated insect protein facility and launch a beef alternative for pet food. Once again, this deal, which goes alongside many others since the start of the year, shows that insect farming is far from being dead, and that this ecosystem is reaching maturity.

 

🇮🇳 🐛 Loopworm, an Indian startup, raised $3.25M to commercialise its insect protein for feed and pets.

 

🇬🇧 🧃 Neutonic, a British startup, raised £3.7M for its nootropic beverage that supports cognitive performance.

 

🇬🇧 💊 Tonic Health, a British startup, raised £3M to develop functional drink powders targeting immunity and gut health.

 

🇮🇳 🛒 Jumbotail, an Indian startup, raised $120M to expand its B2B marketplace targeting food and grocery. It has already linked half a million small shops to leading brands through its digital tools.

 

🇫🇷 🌱 NeoFarm, a French agtech company, raised €30M to scale its tech-enabled micro-farms using regenerative agriculture across Europe.

 

🇮🇳 🌿 Eeki, an Indian startup, raised $7M to scale its aeroponic farm network.

 

🤝 Acquisitions & Partnerships

🇫🇷 🧫 Danone acquired The Akkermansia Company (Belgium), a leader in gut microbiome-based health ingredients.

 

🇯🇵 🍫 Aeon (a Japanese supermarket chain) partnered with Planet A Foods (German startup) to use its cocoa-alternative ingredient in private label biscuits.

 

📊 Leading Companies & Macro Trends

🇨🇳 ☕ Luckin’s Coffee is now outpacing Starbucks in China. Once seen as a fraud (after having faked its account to show more growth than there was), the coffee chain is now opening stores in the US with its (very) wide offer of customisable drinks.

 

🇺🇸 🍔 Beyond Meat announced its next product won’t try to mimic meat and instead shift to a nutrition-first approach that can be used as any ground meat would be.

 

🇪🇺 🧬 The EU announced a €350M innovation fund to support fermentation infrastructure and alternative protein scale-up.

 

🇺🇸 🍬 Interesting read on the link between snack sales decline in the US and the respective rise of GLP-1 drugs and price increases. It is fascinating to see that many snacks are now being priced out by budget meals at fast food chains like McDonald’s. Analysts debate whether the impact of the current economy is temporary or if it’s a more structural behaviour change.

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