Investments & Finance

© Green Bioactives

Scottish Enterprise Backs Green Bioactives with £1.1 Million Grant for Plant-Derived Product R&D

Green Bioactives, a Scottish biotechnology company specializing in sustainable plant-based natural products, has secured a grant of up to £1.1 million from Scottish Enterprise. This funding will support an 18-month research and development project focused on scaling up the production of plant-derived bioactive ingredients using the company’s proprietary Plant Cell Culture Technology platform. The project will help enhance the company’s ability to meet growing demand for eco-friendly and ethically sourced ingredients. Green Bioactives plans to use the grant to expand its production capabilities, ultimately enabling the company to offer viable alternatives to conventional bioactive ingredients sourced from wild-harvesting or synthetic processes. Leah Pape, head of high growth services at Scottish Enterprise, stated, “Green Bioactives is a prime example of the kind of ambitious and innovative …

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Investment Climate Podcast actual veggies

© Investment Climate Podcast

Investment Climate Podcast: Jason Rosenbaum of Actual Veggies, How to Get Funded in 2025

In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist. Episode 25: Actual Veggies In this episode, I interviewed Jason Rosenbaum, co-founder and co-CEO of Actual Veggies, who recently closed a $7M Series A. Jason breaks down why his company took a bold contrarian path in the crowded plant-based market—eschewing meat analogs and ultra-processed ingredients in favor of …

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tariffs

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Tariffs: A Food Innovation Investment Opportunity

Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of Vegtech™ Invest and an advisor to a food innovation ETF. She is a consultant to multi-national companies focused on sustainability and an advisor to C-Suite interested in understanding the growth of whitespaces in the food industry. She is also the host of the podcast, The Plantbased Business Hour on iTunes and vegconomist. In this guest post, Elysabeth discusses how food tariffs, often seen as economic hurdles, can instead act as powerful catalysts for food innovation, driving investment in local production, AgTech, and alternative proteins. Tariffs: A Food Innovation Investment Opportunity By Elysabeth Alfano Tariffs on food are often viewed as a burden, raising prices for consumers and straining international trade relationships. However, for investors, these trade barriers can create …

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© INTAKE

South Korea’s INTAKE Secures $9.2M for Alt Proteins Made With Yeast-Based Precision Fermentation

INTAKE, a South Korean food tech company using yeast-based precision fermentation to produce alternative proteins, has raised KRW 13.5 billion (US$9.2 million) in Series C funding. The round was led by CJ Investment, HB Investment, Woori Venture Partners, KDB Industrial Bank Capital, J Curve Investment, and Wonik Investment Partners. INTAKE plans to use the funding for R&D and global infrastructure expansion for its microbial-based alternative protein business. Super-protein yeast strain INTAKE uses precision fermentation-based yeast cultivation to produce protein powders, which serve as a foundation for alternatives to meat, dairy, and eggs. By taking naturally occurring yeast from domestically grown grapes and enhancing it through adaptive evolution, the company has developed a super-protein yeast strain said to contain 1.5 times more protein than conventional yeast. …

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DMK GROUP

© DMK GROUP

Europe’s Largest Dairy Cooperative Merger Could Open New Opportunities for Plant-Based Innovation

The DMK Group and Arla Foods have announced their intention to merge, creating Europe’s largest dairy-focused cooperative. The merger, which is subject to approval from both cooperatives’ representative assembly and regulatory authorities, will bring together over 12,000 farmers and achieve pro forma sales of €19 billion. While the merger primarily targets the dairy sector, it also has significant implications for the growing plant-based dairy market. Both companies have increasingly expanded into the plant-based space, and the merger may further accelerate this trend. Expansion of plant-based offerings Arla Foods, traditionally known for its dairy products, has been expanding its plant-based product range in response to the growing demand for vegan alternatives. One of its recent innovations includes the launch of the Arla® Pro soft serve mix, …

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Lantmännen

© Lantmännen

EIB Backs Lantmännen’s Pea Protein Facility in Sweden as Part of EU’s Sustainable Protein Strategy

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has committed a loan of EUR 50 million to Lantmännen, a leading Swedish agricultural cooperative, to support the construction of a pea protein processing plant in Lidköping, Sweden. This investment is designed to bolster food security and reduce the European Union’s reliance on imported proteins, aligning with the EU’s broader goals of enhancing self-sufficiency in plant-based protein production and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. The new facility, expected to be completed by mid-2027, will have an annual processing capacity of more than 40,000 tons of peas, primarily sourced from Lantmännen’s farmer members. The plant will produce pea protein isolate, a key ingredient for plant-based foods such as protein bars, drinks, dairy alternatives, and meat substitutes. The investment is also anticipated to …

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Investment Climate Podcast

© Investment Climate Podcast

Investment Climate Podcast: Govin Induchoodan of Glenntex, How to Get Funded in 2025

In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist. Episode 24: Glenntex In this episode, we sit down with Govin Induchoodan, co-founder of Glenntex and COO, a climate tech startup spun out of academic research at Chalmers University. Govin shares his journey from PhD researcher to entrepreneur, detailing how he built a deep-tech packaging company with sustainability …

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fruit and veggie basket

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In the Wake of MAHA, Is 2025 the Year to Finance Food Fast?

Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of VegTech™ Invest, an Advisor to a food innovation ETF. She is a consultant to multi-national companies focused on sustainability and an Advisor to C-Suite interested in understanding the growth and whitespaces in the food industry. She is also the host of the podcast, The Plantbased Business Hour on iTunes and vegconomist. In a recent Upside & Impact: Investing for Change podcast episode, Elysabeth Alfano explored the urgency of food system transformation with Ertharin Cousin, CEO of Food Systems for the Future and former Executive Director of the World Food Programme. The discussion highlighted the need for smart capital, policy alignment, and a patient investment approach in the wake of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative. In the Wake of MAHA, Is 2025 …

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Steakholder Foods

© Steakholder Foods

Steakholder Foods Moves Toward US Expansion, Reports Solid Commercial Progress in 2024

Steakholder Foods Ltd. (Nasdaq: STKH) has published its financial results for the year ending December 31, 2024, alongside updates on key partnerships and commercial progress. The company, which specializes in 3D-printed and cultivated meat and seafood products, has made notable strides in its path to commercialization. Commercial growth and partnerships Steakholder Foods achieved its first commercial revenues in 2024, a significant milestone as it began executing its business model. The company signed agreements with Bondor Foods Ltd., for the sale of its SH™ – Fish premix blends, which will be used in Bondor’s new plant-based fish products. Another important partnership was with Wyler Farm, which placed an order for SH™ – Beef premix blends to create plant-based meatballs, burgers, and minced beef. These deals represent …

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My Bacon

© MyForest Foods

MyForest Foods Secures $11M to Scale Mycelium-Based Bacon as Sales Outpace Competitors

New York-based biotechnology firm Ecovative has raised $11 million in funding to expand its mycelium-based product portfolio, with a primary focus on its spinout company MyForest Foods and its flagship product, MyBacon. The funding round includes $1.68 million in grants and loans from the Advance Albany County Alliance. MyBacon, a bacon alternative made from mycelium—the root structure of mushrooms—has recorded the highest sales velocity among plant-based breakfast items in North America’s natural retail channel, with performance reportedly three times above the category average. The product is now distributed in more than 1,200 retail locations across 45 states, including Whole Foods, Erewhon, Earth Fare, and Northwest Grocers. It is also available via direct-to-consumer platforms such as Hungryroot, Purple Carrot, and Good Eggs. The product contains five …

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Australian Plant Proteins facility

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Australian Plant Proteins Acquired by My Co. After Entering Voluntary Administration in 2024

Australian Plant Proteins (APP), a producer of high-quality protein isolates, has been acquired by My Co., the investment vehicle of the Paule Family Office. APP is known for its patented fractionation technology, which enables the production of protein isolates from faba beans, yellow peas, lentils, mung beans, and other pulses through a unique extraction process. The clean, non-solvent method produces a highly functional protein isolate containing over 85% protein. APP entered voluntary administration in July of last year after experiencing financial difficulties. My Co. says the acquisition is a strategic move that will support local farmers, protect jobs, and reinforce Australia’s status in the global plant-based food market. “This acquisition opens doors to numerous possibilities for APP,” said Vicky Pappas, CEO of My Co. “With …

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Vegan Egg White

© The Every Co.

UK Government Invests £1.4M to Expand Food Standards Agency’s Precision Fermentation Expertise

The UK government has announced it is investing £1.4 million in a new innovation hub that aims to expand the expertise of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in new technologies such as precision fermentation. Precision fermentation involves the use of microorganisms such as yeast to make ingredients like whey protein without the use of animals. The process has been used for decades to produce ingredients such as rennet for cheesemaking, and in recent years there has been increasing interest in its potential as a method of producing alternative proteins. No precision fermentation dairy products are currently on the market in the UK, but several applications are reportedly being evaluated by the FSA as part of the regulatory process. The new innovation hub, funded by the …

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farm

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What Do We Really Know About American Farmers? A Financial Perspective on Agriculture’s Future

Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of VegTech™ Invest, an Advisor to a food innovation ETF. She is a consultant to multi-national companies focused on sustainability and an Advisor to C-Suite interested in understanding the growth and whitespaces in the food industry. She is also the host of the podcasts The Plantbased Business Hour and Upside & Impact: Investing for Change. In a recent episode of the Upside & Impact: Investing for Change podcast, former Deputy Under Secretary for the USDA, Sanah Baig, provided an in-depth look at the current state of American farming and the economic realities shaping its future. As impact investors, we at VegTech Invest see both challenges and opportunities in this evolving agricultural landscape, particularly as it relates to sustainability, food security, and the role of innovation …

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Melhoramentos compostable packaging

© Melhoramentos

Melhoramentos Expands Stake in W-Cycle’s Compostable Packaging That Survives -40°C to 220°C

Brazilian forestry and publishing company Melhoramentos has increased its investment in Israeli clean-tech firm W-Cycle, extending a partnership focused on the production of compostable, plastic-free food containers. The move follows an initial strategic investment of $3.4 million in November 2024, which granted Melhoramentos exclusive distribution rights for W-Cycle’s molded fiber packaging products across Latin America. The ongoing collaboration involves the integration of cellulose fibers from Melhoramentos’ 80 million square meters of sustainably managed forests into W-Cycle’s food-grade packaging formulations. This shift repurposes a portion of Melhoramentos’ pulp output—traditionally used in paper and cardboard—toward the production of molded fiber containers designed for food contact. W-Cycle has developed SupraPulp™, a proprietary cellulose-based material that enables the manufacturing of compostable trays and containers. These products are engineered to …

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Aleph Farms steak

© Aleph Farms

Aleph Farms Accelerates Global Growth with $29M to Expand Production and Improve Efficiency

Israeli cultivated meat producer Aleph Farms has raised $29 million in a funding round to expand production capacity and implement a revised biomanufacturing process. The round includes $22 million through a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and an additional $7 million from existing investors. The company expects to raise a further $10–15 million in the coming months as part of the same round. The capital will support the expansion of Aleph’s pilot facility in Rehovot, Israel, and the development of intermediate-scale production sites in Europe and Asia. These new facilities are intended to operate under the company’s updated ‘1.2’ production platform, which combines cell proliferation and differentiation in a single bioreactor. The updated method removes the need for scaffolding and a secondary tissue bioreactor, …

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Differential Bio

© Differential Bio

Munich Startup Differential Bio Raises €2 Million to Transform Biomanufacturing With AI

Munich-based AI biotech startup Differential Bio has emerged from stealth to redefine biomanufacturing with its Virtual Scale-up Platform. The platform integrates advanced microbiology, lab automation, and artificial intelligence to eliminate bottlenecks in biomanufacturing. It aims to overcome one of the most significant hurdles in the industry — the slowness and expense of scaling bioprocesses from lab to industrial levels. Differential Bio has already raised €2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Ananda Impact Ventures and ReGen Ventures. Other participants included Carbon13, Climate Capital, Better Ventures, CDTM Ventures, and a prominent group of angel investors. The Virtual Scale-up Platform brings together three core innovations — advanced microbiology to miniaturize fermentation processes, robotics to automate lab workflows and generate high-quality data, and AI algorithms to …

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The Brevel team

The Brevel team. © Aviram Waldman

Brevel Expands Seed Round to $25M to Accelerate Commercialization of Microalgae Proteins

Climate food tech company Brevel has secured over $5 million in a seed extension up-round, taking the total amount of seed funding it has raised to $25 million. The capital will be used to develop microalgae proteins for food and beverage applications and accelerate the commercialization of the company’s products. The extension is based on exercises of warrants investors were granted in the initial closing of the seed round in June 2023. Notable investors who decided to increase their share in the company include NevaTeam Partners, Siddhi Capital, the European Union’s EIC Fund, Good Protein Fund, The Food Tech Lab, and PVS Investments. Additionally, several new investors were granted access to the extension under the same terms. With the help of the funding, Brevel will …

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canada soybeans

Created by vegconomist

Canada Launches Support Program for Domestic Reformulation Amid US Trade Uncertainty

Protein Industries Canada has introduced a $3 million program intended to support Canadian ingredient manufacturers and food processors as they adapt to shifting trade dynamics with the United States. The new initiative is designed to facilitate the development or reformulation of products using Canadian-grown ingredients for the domestic market. The Strengthening the Canadian Supply Chain Program will reimburse up to 75% of eligible project costs, with a funding cap of $200,000 per project. To qualify, projects must involve at least one of the following components: reformulating products with domestically produced ingredients, scaling up and commercializing Canadian food products for Canadian consumers, or scaling up domestically produced ingredients for use by Canadian manufacturers. Emphasis on Canadian crops Projects must use Canadian feedstocks or ingredients derived from …

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Grassa

© Grassa

Grassa Raises €3.6M to Further Develop Grass Protein Production Technology

Grassa, a Dutch company working to extract protein from grass, has raised €3.6 million to further develop its technology. Investors in the round included Perspectieffonds Gelderland (PFG) — a Gelderland province fund managed by Oost NL — along with existing shareholders Fransen Gerrits and Brightlands Venture Partners. The funding will be used to scale up Grassa’s technology, demonstrate its benefits to dairy farmers, and develop edible grass protein for humans. Grassa’s technology creates “unlocked grass”, which contains less unstable protein than normal grass, along with grass juice, from which protein can be extracted. The unlocked grass reduces methane and nitrogen emissions from cows when used as feed, while the grass protein provides a sustainable alternative to soy protein. Grassa has discovered that 50% of the …

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Investment Climate Podcast

© Investment Climate Podcast

Investment Climate Podcast: Ali Wing of Oobli, How to Get Funded in 2025

In this podcast series, Alex Shandrovsky interviews investors about benchmarks for funding Alt Proteins in 2025 and uncovers the investment playbooks of successful Climate Tech CEOs and Leading VCs. Podcast Host Alex Shandrovksy is a strategic advisor to numerous global food tech accelerators and companies, including alternative proteins and cellular agriculture leaders. His focus is on investor relations and post-raise scale for agrifood tech companies. This podcast is syndicated through our media partners; Foodtech Weekly and Vegconomist. Episode 22: Oobli In this episode, I sat down with Ali Wing, CEO of Oobli, to explore how sweet proteins are revolutionizing the way we think about sugar reduction in food. Ali takes us through Oobli’s Series B1 fundraising journey, the importance of regulatory approvals, and how they …

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