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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Bits x Bites

Bits x Bites Closes $30 Million for Its New China Agrifood Tech Fund

Bits x Bites, a China-based agrifood tech venture capital fund, announced today that is has closed $30 million of a new $70 million fund.

Bits x Bites first launched in 2016 as a venture capital firm and accelerator focused on ag and food tech in China. The company has invested in a variety of future food themes ranging from cell-based meat (Future Meat) and Food AI (Analytical Flavor Systems) to CRISPR (Tropic Biosciences).

Over the past few years, China has made a concerted effort to foster investment into building out its digital marketplaces, next-gen retail and delivery, but has started to turn more towards fostering upstream agricultural innovation and sustainability. That’s historically been the main focus of Bits x Bites, so it’s not surprising in the year of COVID their new fund is putting an even greater emphasis on investing in companies that can help build a stronger, more self-sustaining foundation in the face of continued threats to the existing food system.

“With African Swine Flu, COVID, and uncertain trade relations, nothing else is more urgent in China today than growing the self-sufficiency and sustainability in food production,” said Matilda Ho, founder and managing director of Bits x Bites, in the announcement.

“Whether it is a discovery platform for novel agri inputs, bio-manufacturing of high-demand functional ingredients, or machine learning for farm automation, these process innovations are vital for raising our food system’s productivity and improving the nutritional and safety performance of our food product.”

The first portfolio investment for the new fund is China-based essential nutrients startup Mojia Bio. According to the release, Mojia Bio uses a “proprietary bio-manufacturing process increases yield and limits by-product and environmental pollution associated with conventional chemical synthesis.”

 The limited partners in the new fund include Singapore-based investment bank Temasek,  Heritas Capital Management and Henry Soesanto, CEO of Monde Nissin (the company behind Quorn).

The group intends to close the rest of the funding in the coming months.

Entrepreneur Hopes To Transform Shanghai Into Food Startup Hub

China’s middle class is changing and with that change comes emerging differences in the way their population consumes food. This week Fast Company introduced the new food tech accelerator, Bits x Bites – the first of its kind in China – and how it’s looking to help shape the nation’s food and agricultural systems. According to Matilda Ho, founder of Bits x Bites, the accelerator’s mission is to “shape the future of good food by investing in early stage startups that use technology to solve food system challenges in China.”

Ho founded the successful Chinese food startup Yimishiji, an online farmer’s market that delivers chemical-free produce by electric bike to Shanghai consumers. Her work with Yimishiji made Ho realize she wanted to expand on the vision and help build a community of other food tech startups that were working to shape food and agricultural sustainability across the country. The Bits x Bites accelerator was born and the 120-day program, based in Shanghai, gives startups capital, coaching and a like-minded community to network and help them take their idea to the next level.

While all of the startups under Bits x Bites are offering innovative solutions that are also common in other parts of the world, they also appeal to the nuances of Chinese culture. In Chinese culture, salad is not a common meal as it is in the West. Startup Frugee markets their cold-pressed, high-pressure pasteurized juice from fruits and vegetables as a nutrient-rich alternative to eating salads. Another participant startup, Alesca Life, addresses the issue of limited arable land in China by producing hydroponic farms that come in shipping containers, coupled with software to run them. Their first focus is on hotels that want to grow their own produce for in-house restaurants.

A third, currently unnamed startup addresses the issue of creating a sustainable animal agriculture system by developing noodles and other foods that are made from silkworm flour similar to the way other global startups are producing cricket flour. Since the worms are often discarded after using their cocoons for developing silk, using the by-product is a cost-effective alternative to wheat or other grain flours.

In an interview with That’s Magazine, Ho commented on her vision and drive to pursue an accelerator in Shanghai and how it might transform. the Chinese food system,

There are more than 4,000 startups opening shop in China every day. If we can harness some of this entrepreneurial energy to solve food system challenges, the impact can be astonishing. With our experience building the online farmers’ market Yimishiji, we hope to help more startups accelerate their growth and build a sustainable business.

Ho sees food tech startups growing rapidly in China, but recognizes that a lot of work needs to be done both in China and across the global food industry – starting with participation in accelerators like Bits x Bites. She is already seeing an influx of major Chinese food companies visiting the startup each week, looking for ways to get involved with food incubators or their own or to help make strides in the space. As a global leader, increased investments in tech for China’s food and agricultural system is important for sustainability inside and outside of the country.