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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

agtech

Applications Are Open for Grow-NY’s Food and Agtech Startup Competition

Startups, take note. The next installment of Cornell University and the state of New York’s Grow-NY business competition is set to take place from September to November of this year and currently taking applications, according to a press release from Cornell. 

This installment is part of a larger three-year initiative that launched in 2019 with the goal of building up the food and agriculture industries in the Finger Lakes, Central New York, and Southern Tier regions of New York State. That region is already known for its abundant farmland and is home to companies like Dinosaur BBQ, Wegmans supermarkets, and the Empire Brewing Company. Winners of each Grow-NY installment are expected to create more jobs and contribute to the overall economy in the region.

While companies can be from anywhere in the world, the program site clearly states that they must be prepared to “materially locate and maintain a presence on an on-going basis within the Grow-NY Region” for at least one year.

New York’s Empire State Development organization funds Grow-NY, while Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement executes the details of the program. 

The program’s website notes that “high-growth food and agriculture startups from across the globe are encouraged to enter the competition.” Up to 20 finalists will be chosen and will then enter a mentorship and business development phase. A pitch day takes place at the end of that time and the final winners are chosen. One company will receive $1 million, two will receive $500,000 each, and four get $250,000 each. 

All of this, of course, depends on what happens with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. New York is currently the epicenter of the world when it comes to the novel coronavirus. Nationwide, states are telling people to stay home and events are being postponed, canceled, or moved online. 

Grow-NY organizers haven’t made any mention of how the pandemic could affect the competition. Since the application process is open until mid-summer, it’s too early to say whether any in-person program activities will have to be changed, as has been the case for other startup-focused programs recently. Kathryn J. Boor, Dean of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, noted in the press release that the Grow-NY program attracts some much-needed food and agriculture innovation to the region, which is “even more vital as we look for ways to recover from the economic effects of COVID-19.”

Applications are open through July 15, 2020. 

Like Local Farms? You Better Step Up Now or They’re Going to Disappear

Certain food sources, like e-commerce grocery sites and meal kit companies, are seeing a boost in sales in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, many parts of the world are shuttering farmers markets and restaurants, eliminating key revenue sources for local farmers. So how can those farmers survive in our new coronavirus reality?

Unfortunately, it won’t be easy. Small farmers make a significant chunk of their money from these markets or selling to restaurants — which, as you’ve probably noticed, are also struggling. The numbers are discouraging: Civil Eats pointed to an analysis of the impacts of COVID-19, predicting a $689 million decline in sales from March to May 2020 for farmers who sell at local markets. It’s especially tricky for farmers who sell perishable goods, like eggs and produce, which might go bad while their sales channels are blocked.

Some farmers and supporters are fighting back by making a petition to designate farmers markets in areas like Seattle, where they’ve been shut down, as essential. I think that makes sense. People are already shopping shoulder-to-shoulder in grocery stores, way closer together than six feet. Arguably, it’s less dangerous from a public health standpoint for them to shop outside in the open air?

One solution for farmers could be to move towards selling more CSAs, or Community Supported Agriculture. With a CSA, individuals can buy a share in a farm’s output, which is delivered either to their door or a pick-up point, usually once a week. It’s a way to continue to get local produce and support farmers without having to risk cross-contamination in a farmers market, if those are even still available. Clearly people are interested — according to Yelp, deliveries of CSAs have gone up 405 percent in March.

Certain online platforms are also facilitating online sale of local foods. MilkRun in Portland, Oregon, for example, is an online marketplace connecting people with local farms in their area. MilkRun’s CEO and Founder Julia Niiro told me that the company’s orders have increased more than 6 times since the start of the crisis with “no signs of them slowing down” as farmers markets close. Even if you aren’t in the Portland area, Niiro is urging diners to buy from local farmers wherever they can. “If you want to be able to get beautiful, local food at any restaurant after this crisis is over, you need to buy directly from small farmers now,” she told me.

Restaurants are also thinking of creative ways to support farmers. Naked Farmer in Tampa Bay, Florida, which was slated to open its doors this April, has instead pivoted to open a digital farmers market. People can order locally-sourced foods through either the Naked Farmer website or UberEats, and can get their orders at a pick-up zone or via delivery. In Seattle, Eric Rivera, who’s been especially innovative in the face of COVID-19, is partnering with local farmers to sell bags of locally grown vegetables for pickup at his restaurant. Diners can also add it onto their delivery order from his restaurant, Addo.

Some existing online farm-to-diner sites are struggling to keep up with the sudden explosion in demand. UK-based platform Farmdrop, a service that delivers food from farmers to Brits’ doorsteps, has had to limit its drop-off days. When I checked the site earlier today, I saw a note that they are “at capacity and unable to take any further orders for the current days available,” but would be opening new slots soon. In the U.S., local farmed food delivery service Hungry Harvest has also had to pause new signups due to an increase in orders.

That’s an encouraging sign that people want to support local farmers and buy their goods. It also shows that we need more services connecting consumers to farmers and facilitating purchases and delivery. And soon.

Small farmers are already struggling to survive for a myriad of reasons — if we don’t find ways to sell their produce, or give them a significant bailout, we could be looking at a future with significantly fewer farmers markets and locally-grown food. And that’s not a future I want to eat in.

Food Tech News: Sustainable Agriculture Leaps in Earth and in Outer Space

In this week’s news cycle which seems to be filled with ever-more-scary headlines, it can be hard to look anywhere but the eye of the storm. However, if you want a break from COVID-19 news, we’ve rounded up some food tech stories to peruse while you’re social distancing.

This week we’ve got stories on safer pesticide coatings, climate-friendly snacks and a very personal way astronauts can sustain space agriculture.

Astronauts can recycle urine to increase crop production

Space travelers preparing for multi-year journeys already know they’ll have to recycle their urine to make drinking water (yum). But this week IFT reported that that urine could have another use to help sustain astronauts over long missions. Researchers at Wageningen University & Research have successfully completed an experiment showing that struvite, a component found in human urine, could be used as a fertilizer to accelerate crop growth on potential farms on Mars.

Crop Enhancement raises $8M for sustainable pesticide spray

Crop Enhancement, a startup making a sustainable alternative to pesticides, raised a $8 million Series B this week. The round was led by Spruce Capital and Xeraya Capital, with participation from Davinia Investments, Alexandria Ventures, and existing investors. According to AgFunder News, Crop Enhancement is using a type of material that hasn’t been used in agriculture thus far, and is able to protect a plant for six to eight weeks. The startup will use the new funding to start trials testing the effect of its spray on a new range of crops including grapes, broccoli, and tomatoes.

Planet FWD raises $2.7M for regenerative snacks

Planet FWD, a new startup founded by the co-founder of pizza tech company Zume Pizza, just announced that it had closed a $2.7 million seed round (h/t Techcrunch). Planet FWD makes sustainable snacks out of regenerative ingredients in order to combat climate change, and its first product will be a cracker made from ingredients that regenerate soil health. The round was led by BBG Ventures with participation from Cleo Capital, Cowboy Ventures, Kapor Capital and others. It’s unclear where the product will be available or its pricing.

People Moves

We’re trying out a new periodic feature for food tech news called People Moves, where we track the career moves of those in the food tech world. If you know of an executive move, let us know at tips@thespoon.tech.

Gunders to Lead ReFed. Dana Gunders, long known for her efforts to raise awareness about food waste, has been named the Executive Director of ReFED, one of the world’s leading organization’s focused on reducing food waste.

Ken Zhang Joins HotSpot Cooktop. Ken Zhang, former director of platform for smart cooking platform SideChef, has went on to become Chief Product Officer at HotSpot CookTop.

Doug Evans Becomes Author. Ex-CEO of founder of Juicero has a new gig: author. He just published a books on Sprouts and says he is now a full-time author.

Arable Launches New Mark 2 Sensor to Monitor Climate and Plant Conditions on Farms

Agtech company Arable today announced a new version of its sensor along with a suite of tools to help farmers and food producers monitor and collect data about soil and weather conditions on their land.

At the heart of Arable’s solution is its new Mark 2, the second generation of its solar-powered, connected sensor. Once installed, the Mark 2 sits above the plant canopy and measures 40 different elements like rain, solar radiation, canopy cover, crop water demand, and environmental stresses.

The Mark 2 can be used as part of the company’s new Arable Forecasting product, also announced today. Arable Forecasting combines data from the Mark 2 with third-party weather data and machine learning to provide hyperlocal weather forecasting. This means growers can monitor micro-climates across vast grow areas, and take specific actions on a more granular level.

Arable: Decision Agriculture

Along with the new sensor and Arable Forecasting, the company also announced:

  • Arable Bridge, which integrates data from auxiliary sensors like soil moisture probes, pressure switches and wind speed monitors into the Mark 2.
  • Arable Open, an open-source API for external platform interoperability.
  • Arable Mobile, a cloud-based platform for crop consultants, farmers and food processors.

Arable is among a number of startups promising to deliver more precise, data-driven agriculture. Other players in the space include CropX, a soil sensor company that acquired irrigation management tool company CropMetrics earlier this year; Terralytic, a soil sensor that monitors nitrogen, phosphate and potassium; and Taranis, which uses aerial imagery to detect crop stresses.

Arable’s Mark 2 is already available to order on the company’s website for $1,595 plus a $699 per year subscription. According to today’s press announcement, Arable has been used in 37 countries across six continents by companies like BASF, Netafim, and Treasury Wine Estates.

Good News, Astronauts — Lettuce Grown in Space is Safe to Eat and Also Nutritious

Astronauts hoping to eat salads during their interplanetary travels got some good news this week. NASA scientists have been examining the red romaine lettuce grown on the International Space Station (ISS) and just determined that it’s not only safe to eat — it’s also just as nutritious as lettuce grown on Earth (h/t New York Times).

The lettuce was grown from 2014 to 2016 in Veggie, a hydroponic growth chamber onboard the ISS. NASA scientists have been examining samples culled from Veggie and comparing them to romaine grown here on Earth under similar agricultural conditions (same humidity, temperature, etc). Today they released a paper which states that the two lettuces had similar nutritional values, though the space-grown lettuce had higher levels of (unharmful) microbes, likely due to their proximity to the astronauts.

Of course, astronauts cannot survive on lettuce alone; nor will they be able to rely on packaged food for multi-year journeys (the trip to Mars will take at least seven months, one way). Since 2016 Veggie has also grown other plants including mizuna and cabbage. NASA scientists are working to launch the Española chile pepper into space, which would make it the first fruiting plant grown and harvested on the ISS. And over at the University of California, Riverside they’re hard at work developing tomatoes with smaller stems and leaves that would be better suited to space travel.

Interplanetary dining exploration goes far beyond fruits and vegetables. In December astronauts baked sugar cookies on the ISS with Zero G Kitchen’s special oven. SpaceX is flying coffee and hemp cultures into space this year to see how zero gravity will impact the plants’ growth. On the protein front, Aleph Farms has successfully grown animal muscle tissue cells on the ISS. Japan is also experimenting with new ways to feed astronauts through its 30+ company initiative, Space Food X.

According to the NASA study, this Romaine experiment indicated that “leafy green vegetable crops can produce safe, edible, fresh food to supplement to the astronauts’ diet.” Good to know that space travelers will have a salad to balance out their space cookies and wine.

GrainChain Raises $8.2 Million for its Commodities Blockchain Solution

GrainChain, which uses a combination of blockchain, IoT and the cloud to help manage the logistics around commodities purchasing and transportation, has raised an $8.2 million Series A round of funding. Medici Ventures, the blockchain accelerator arm of Overstock.com, invested $5 million in the round, and was joined by Eden Block and other investors. This brings the total amount raised by GrainChain to $11.45 million to date.

What GrainChain does is pretty complex, but at its core, the company uses blockchain to create smart contracts that help track the flow of commodities (think: corn, soy, black pepper, coffee) from the farm through the supply chain. Once a commodity arrives at a food processing operation, GrainChain’s platform works with different IoT-enabled services to grade the quality of each item, as well as provide data around temperature and humidity while in storage, with blockchain providing all of the authentication.

Once a grading occurs and pricing is set, GrainChain’s software will then facilitate payment to the farmer, the trucker, and any party associated with the smart contract.

For a more in-depth and specific example of GrainChain in action, check out the article my colleague, Catherine Lamb wrote last year about the service being used with coffee farms in Honduras.

GrainChain is among a host of tech startups looking to make the food supply chain more transparent and efficient. Blockchain in particular has been used for tracking E. coli outbreaks and seafood labeling. Companies like AgShift are using computer vision and the cloud to assist with unbiased food grading. And Varcode creates temperature-sensitive, blockchain-based barcodes to track the cold chain.

GrainChain says that it has 2,500 participants on its system right now across the U.S., Mexico and Honduras. The company will use the new funding for product development and expansion into more countries.

AgFunder: Meat Alternatives, Indoor Farming and Cloud Kitchens Score Top Investments in 2019

Global venture capital fund AgFunder today released its 2019 Agri-FoodTech Investing Report, which gives a birds-eye view of the investment landscape in agriculture and foodtech (also known as agri-foodtech) companies over the past year.

Overall, it was a pretty fortuitous year for startups in the space. According to AgFunder’s report, agri-foodtech companies raised a total of $19.8 billion last year. That’s a 4.8 percent drop in funding from 2018 (a blip which the report pins on the US-China trade war and Brexit), but the industry still experienced roughly 250 percent growth over the past five years.

A few areas in particular enjoyed some hefty investment last year: meat alternatives, robotic food delivery, indoor farming, and cloud kitchens. If you’re a regular Spoon visitor, that probably won’t surprise you; we’ve been reporting on the growth of these industries extensively over the past year (plant-based meat and cloud kitchens, in particular).

One foodtech area that AgFunder reports did not see an increase in investor interest, however, was meal delivery. Quite the opposite, actually. AgFunder notes that investment in consumer food delivery declined 56 percent year-over-year as the market became oversaturated. The growing controversy over third-party delivery could also have something to do with it.

Upstream + downstream agri-foodtech investments. [Photo: AgFunder]

As investment in agri-foodtech grows and diversifies, so too does the investor pool itself. AgFunder’s report notes “more generalist, big global players and corps,” are flocking to agtech and foodtech startups, including giants like SoftBank, Amazon, and Microsoft.

There’s also a geographical expansion. Led by record interest from U.K., funding in European agri-foodtech companies nearly doubled in 2019. Latin America also had what AgFunder dubbed a “breakout year,” raising $1.4 billion for the sector. Unsurprisingly California still led in the U.S. (thanks, Silicon Valley).

Of course, we have to take the report with a grain of salt. As a venture fund itself, AgFunder obviously has reason to make its chosen area look like a white-hot space. Nonetheless, I think it’s fair to say that agtech and foodtech are indeed entering the mainstream — and attracting due investor attention.

2019 saw “far out” technologies like cell-based meat and drone food delivery, become… well, not mainstream, but at least less far-fetched. As they continue to mature — and fight through regulatory red tape to actually hit the market — I’m betting that we will see investments in the agri-foodtech continue on their upward trajectory.

Equinom Raises $10M to Develop Smarter Seeds to Feed the Protein Craze

Israeli seed breeding startup Equinom announced today that it has closed a $10 million Series B round of funding led by BASF Venture Capital with participation from Roquette, Trendlines Group, and Equinom’s current investor, Fortissimo Capital. This brings the total funding raised by Equinom to $17.6 million.

Founded in 2012, Equinom uses cross-breeding technology to create seeds and legumes that grow faster, produce better yields, and have higher protein levels. Instead of relying on GMO’s or gene editing technology like CRISPR to produce their seeds, Equinom’s scientists use predictive algorithms to precisely breed plants to produce their ideal traits. The startup claims that their technology can produce new seeds in half the time as traditional breeding.

According to a press release from the company, Equinom currently supplies its specially bred sesame seeds to food producers across the globe. Equinom will start selling its next product — a high protein pea varietal — in 2021. With its new funding, the startup plans to expand its seed distribution globally and build out its team.

As the world’s population grows, so too does the need for highly-nutrition food that can be grown without totally depleting our planet. Paired with the burgeoning demand globally for plant-based protein, it’s no wonder that seed companies are trying to find the most efficient ways to grow high-protein plants like legumes and beans — the key ingredient in alternative meat and dairy products.

Many organizations turn to high-tech solutions like gene editing (including CRISPR) or GMO‘s to create their ideal seeds. Interestingly, Equinom is eschewing these in favor of more traditional breeding, albeit breeding augmented with data and algorithms to make it more efficient. Considering the serious challenges we’ll face feeding the world sustainably, this multi-pronged approach will hopefully pay off.

Surplus Veggies and High-Tech Farm Cooperatives: FS6 Accelerator Announces New Cohort

Food System 6 (FS6), a San Francisco Bay Area-based food and agriculture accelerator program, just announced the participants for its fifth cohort. The six chosen startups are focused on creating sustainable solutions for farmers, ranchers, and other upstream food producers.

All participating startups will receive a year of mentorship and support in areas like business development, marketing, and R&D. Through FS6’s partnership with investment fund 1st Course Capital, each cohort member will also get a $25,000 cash investment after they complete the accelerator program (in exchange for 1.5 percent in equity).

Without any further ado, here are the participants in FS6’s newest cohort:

  • Firebrand Artisan Breads – Oakland-based bakery supporting the local community through employment and high-quality breads and pastries.
  • Central Grazing Co. – Regenerative farming enterprise selling lamb and leather made from animals raised on the company’s zero-waste Kansas farm.
  • Matriark Foods – Upcycles surplus farm produce to create healthy vegetable products for large foodservice establishments like hospitals, food banks and schools.
  • Revel Meat Co. – Small-scale butchery and meat wholesaler focused on local meats raised in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Farm Generations Cooperative – Piloting GrownBy, an online sales platform for direct market farmers.
  • Keller Crafted Meats – Whole-animal butcher and charcuterie producer and distributor, purchasing from local farms.

These startups are more on the ag side of agtech, but all are thinking creatively to reinvent a certain aspect of how our food is produced. Farm Generations Cooperative and Matriark especially are tapping into some trends we’ve been seeing a lot of at The Spoon, like online marketplaces and upcycled food.

Food accelerator and incubator programs are so hot right now. It seems like practically every company, especially Big Food brands, is rolling out their own, hoping to attract a pool of startups to potentially acquire (and help then keep a finger on the pulse of innovation). As a nonprofit, FS6 has a slightly different agenda — though both are hoping that through mentorship and investment, they can help a new group of companies succeed.

We’ll check back in a year and see how FS6’s Cohort 5 is doing.

Aquaculture Accelerator Hatch Raises $8.4M, Recruits Fourth Cohort

Hatch, a Norway-based accelerator program focused on aquaculture startups, announced yesterday that it had raised $8.4 million to recruit a fourth cohort and further invest in its existing portfolio (via The Fish Site). Thus far the fund has raised over $10 million in external investment thus far. It currently operates in Hawaii, Bergen (Norway), and Singapore.

Founded in 2018, Hatch launched its first three-month accelerator program, which included eight aquaculture startups, in the spring of 2018. As my colleague Jenn Marston wrote at the time:

Each team will get $30,600 (USD) in addition to mentoring, development help, office space, and the chance to make new connections in the aquaculture industry. For those companies that have “high potential,” an additional loan will be available once they complete the program.

Since then the numbers have gone up. Per the Hatch website, each startup in the accelerator program will receive a total of $130,000 ($75,000 in cash, $55,000 in kind). They’ll also receive a year of free office space, mentorship, and product development connections.

Hatch is looking for startups that are reinventing and streamlining any part of the aquaculture field, from seafood nutrition to population management to new species development. Past participants in Hatch’s program range from Algaebra, an automated shrimp hatchery, to Gaskiya, which tests tilapia for the streptococcus virus. They’ve even invested in Finless Foods, the startup growing bluefin tuna from fish cells in bioreactors.

Overfishing is a pressing problem, depleting oceans of seafood and disrupting the delicate balance of the ecosystem. Aquaculture is certainly one alternative, but it carries its own burdens: water pollution, and overuse of pesticides, to name a few. As our population — and hunger for seafood — increases, we’ll need to get more creative to make seafood cultivation more sustainable.

A growing number of startups are getting creative with ways to solve this disconnect. Aquabyte uses machine learning to monitor in-ocean fisheries, Ynsect is developing insect farms to use for fish feed, and companies like Timberfish and BluePlanet are reinventing seafood farms altogether. There’s also a handful of companies developing cell-based seafood, which could dramatically reduce our reliance on ocean fishing and aquaculture altogether.

With seafood consumption set to increase, Hatch’s fresh funds could be chum in the water for innovative aquaculture startups.

Applications for Hatch’s newest cohort open today. If you’ve got a startup that is out to change the way we cultivate seafood, you can apply here.

Cooks Venture Raises $4M to Expand Regenerative Agriculture Initiative

Cooks Venture, a startup focusing on sustainable agriculture and food supply, today announced a $4 million capital raise led by Golden West Food Group. The startup also hired Ankur Agrawal, former VP of Finance for SeatGeek, as its new CFO.

This news comes just three months after Cooks Venture raised a $12 million senior secured financing round. That brings the startup’s total funding to $16 million.

Cooks Venture, which was founded by former Blue Apron founder Matthew Wadiak, has one goal: to promote regenerative agriculture. For those who don’t know, regenerative ag is holistic farming practices that promote healthy soil, low carbon footprints and sustainable animal husbandry. It also skips artificial inputs like fertilizer and pesticide, instead trying to create a self-sustaining loop: the crops feed the animals, the animals create fertilizer, and the fertilizer grows the crops. Etcetera.

So far, Cooks Venture has been moving quickly. The startup began earning buzz in 2019 and has already established an 800-acre farm, hatchery and breeding facility in Arkansas, as well as two processing facilities in Oklahoma.

Its first product is heirloom chickens, which sell from between $15 to $20 a pop (not absurd compared with other organic pasture-raised birds). Cooks Ventures’ “Pioneer” breed of chicken, which is meant to have more flavor than an average supermarket bird, is available online and through FreshDirect. The startup will use its new fundings to expand distribution to more wholesale and retailer partners.

Chickens are just Phase One for Cooks Venture. When I spoke with Wadiak last year he told me that they’ll expand to sell cattle, pigs and vegetables, all of which were cultivated on the same plot of land.

Regenerative agriculture certainly sounds appealing — who doesn’t want to eat food that tastes better and is healthier for the planet? — but it can often be prohibitively pricey (just think of the expensive offerings at your local farmers market). Cooks Venture is trying to break that stereotype and make sustainable products that are actually affordable.

That’s a lofty goal, especially since startup isn’t leveraging agricultural technologies like automation to cut costs. In fact, it’s taking an opposite tack, relying on low-tech traditional solutions to create a viable alternative to environmentally-unfriendly industrial farming.

In short, Cooks Venture is a young David standing up to the Goliath of factory farming — but at least it’s a David with $4 million fresh dollars.

Rockstart Closes €3M in Fresh Funding for Its First Agtech Cohort

Copenhagen, Denmark-based startup accelerator Rockstart announced this week it has closed a €3 million (~ $3,332,000 USD) funding round to support Rockstart AgriFood, its first-ever agtech-focused program. The round follows a €15 million raise from September 2019 that was led by the Danish state fund Vaekstfonden, Dutch investment firm De Hoge Dennen, and “unnamed high net worth individuals,” according to an article on AgFunder news. This latest round of investment comes from undisclosed investors from Europe. 

Nine-year-old Rockstart, who also operates programs for the energy and health sector, kicked off the first-ever cohort for its agtech (also called “agrifood”) program last September. Ten startups were chose to participate, including ChefMe, a platform for hiring private chefs, precision-farming company Vultus, and Beyond Leather Materials, which repurposes unused foods to make leather alternatives.

For all its programs, including AgriFood, Rockstart looks for growth-stage startups and focuses on getting them access to markets and capital. AgriFood, in particular, looks for startups innovating in the following areas: optimizing processes and practices, reducing and/or stopping food waste, and improving traceability.  

Chosen companies receive an initial €100,000 (€35,000 in cash and €65,000 in program costs in exchange for 6 percent equity via a convertible loan). Startups are also eligible for potential follow-on investments from Rockstart up to their Series B stage. The program provides all participants with networking and mentorship opportunities as well as access to the wider Rockstart community. 

The first cohort’s Demo Day, where companies showcase and pitch their products and services will take place on January 30 in Copenhagen. According to the Rockstart website, applications for the next cohort open in April 2020.