Following successful investments from Jay-Z and Grammy-award winning singer H.E.R, the allergy-free brand Partake Foods has raised $4.8 million in a new funding round. Interesting to note is CEO and founder Denise Woodard is the first woman of color to raise $1 million for a food startup. New investors include pop star Rihanna.
Aqua Cultured Foods Appoints Food Industry Celebs to Advisory Board
Chicago’s Aqua Cultured Foods, producer of alt seafood products through microbial fermentation, announces the appointment of three industry heavyweights to its Advisory Board: Chuck Muth, Ingeborg Gasser-Kriss, and Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena. The female-led food tech startup is developing calamari, shrimp, scallops, and whole cut filets of tuna and whitefish. The company’s fermentation methods are free of any animal inputs, genetic altering or modification and can be marketed as non-GMO. Impressive achievements Since vegconomist first reported on Aqua Cultured — just last June — the company has gone on to achieve a list of accomplishments: closing the largest ever pre-seed round in alt-seafood last October; signing an agreement with Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer; revealing its first commercial product, alt calamari fries; and announcing advancements in its …