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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Funding

GFI: Fermentation Fuels Q3 2024 Alt-Protein Investments, While Cultivated Meat Lags

This week, the Good Food Institute released its quarterly alt-protein investment update, so I thought it’d be a good time to check in and see which way things are trending.

At this point it’s well-known that the alt-protein investment climate has had a couple tough years, and the latest numbers show things remain tough.

According to data shared by GFI, alternative protein companies raised $233 million in Q3 2024—a 37% decrease from Q2, but a 25% increase year-over-year. The drop from Q2 is notable, exceeding the 20% decline across the broader venture capital market. However, the 25% year-over-year growth in Q3 is a potential bright spot and could indicate that the second half of 2023 marked the low point for the overall market.

Source: GFI

GFI also broke things down by sub-sector, and it’s clear that fermentation technologies are where investors are placing their bets:

  • Plant-based proteins raised $56 million in Q3, bringing the year-to-date total to $194 million.
  • Fermentation technologies, which saw the largest share of investment, raised $174 million in Q3, with $572 million invested year-to-date.
  • Cultivated meat and seafood companies raised $3 million in Q3, reaching $133 million year-to-date.

It’s important to note that the overall alt-protein investment numbers can be heavily influenced by a few large deals. For example, Q2 2024 saw $118 million invested in the cultivated meat sector, largely driven by a $55 million Series B investment in Prolific Machines, a cultivated meat infrastructure company, and a $42 million investment in Dutch cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat. These larger deals led to an average deal size of $10 million for cultivated meat in Q2, compared to a paltry $396,000 in Q3 2024.

Similarly, Q3’s fermentation investment numbers were significantly impacted by two major deals: a $61 million investment in fermentation startup Formo for its Koji cheese products and a $45 million Series B for precision fermentation startup Helaina, focused on its human lactoferrin product.

GFI notes that lower interest rates moving forward could provide a boost to the alt-protein space, but cautions that the cost of capital remains relatively high. They continue to advocate for alt-protein startups to explore non-traditional funding sources, such as government-backed loans and programs.

Looking ahead, I predict that fermentation-based startups will remain the most attractive area for investors in the coming year. Investment in cultivated meat startups will likely focus on infrastructure players with game-changing technology, like Prolific Machines. Meanwhile, many cultivated meat startups that raised significant rounds in the past few years to scale manufacturing have put those plans on hold as they work to extend their funding runways during this ongoing VC winter.

According to GFI, the alt-protein space has seen a cumulative $16.3 billion invested since 2015, a decent number overall but still relatively small compared to other sustainability focused-sectors. To give you an idea of just how small the space is compared to other sectors, the solar industry raised $6.9 billion in venture capital in 2023 alone, and that number jumps to $34.3 billion when factoring in corporate funding.

One thing that the space needs to attract bigger dollars is a more attractive exit outlook. Overall, the exits in alt-protein has been disappointing, as have the results of those companies that have gone public. Until we see a big investor success story in this space, the dollars may remain relatively small compared to other markets.

Ansā’s RF-Powered Countertop Coffee Roaster Attracts $9M in Fresh Funding

Ansā, a Tel Aviv-based builder of micro coffee roasters, has raised $9 million in funding to help the company roll out its technology into the US market, according to a release sent to The Spoon.

Unlike traditional coffee roasters, which use gas to heat the roaster chambers. The Ansā e23 micro roaster uses radio waves to heat the beans. Much like a microwave oven or newer solid-state cooking systems, this form of heating, known as dialectic heating, heats the coffee bean from core to shell.

According to the company, the system’s computer vision (provided via a built-in camera) coordinates roasting with precision application of the radio waves to transmit the energy to individual beans, creating a highly precise and homogeneously applied roast.

As automation and newer, cleaner technology enables more food processing to move closer to the point of consumption, coffee figures to be one of the leading categories in coming years. We’ve seen the success of electric-powered in-store roasters like other upstarts like Bellwether and some attempts at countertop home coffee roasters (mostly with success), but Ansā is the first to use electromagnetic heating for coffee roasting in office environments.

According to the company, they have secured commercial contracts in the US in cities such as Seattle, New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta and plan to use the funding to fund their rollout in the US.

Alt. Protein Round-Up: Smoked Salmon, Funding Rounds, and Brave Robot’s Cake Mix

Alternative protein news has been dropping in faster than fall leaves, and so we’ve gathered some of this week’s top stories, including Revo Foods’ product launch, Aquacultured and Daring Foods’ funding rounds, and Brave Robot’s new cake mix.

Revo Foods launches plant-based salmon in Austrian grocery stores

This week, plant-based seafood startup Revo Foods launched its alternative salmon product in the Austrian supermarket chain Billa Plus. The product now available on retailer shelves is Revo’s plant-based smoked salmon, made from a base of pea protein and algae oil. Additionally, Revo Foods recently appeared on the Austrian show “2 Minuten 2 Millionen” (similar to Shark Tank), where the company garnered interest from potential investors. In 2022, the company has plans to launch plant-based tuna, smoked salmon spread, and sashimi products.

Aquacultured raises $2.1 million in oversubscribed seed round

Alt-seafood startup Aqua Cultured has raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding. Unlike many other alt-seafood startups using a straight plant-based or cell-cultured approach, Aqua Cultured uses microbial fermentation techniques to create whole-muscle cut seafood alternatives. The company has developed formulas for tuna, whitefish, squid, and shrimp that leverage its novel fungi as the primary ingredient. Investors include Supply Change Capital, Aera VC, Sustainable Food Ventures, Hanfield Venture Partners, Lifely VC, Conscience VC, Kingfisher Capital, Big Idea Ventures. $2.1 million, a nice pre-seed raise, is even more impressive considering the company only started last month.

Brave Robot releases cake mix

Brave Robot, the first consumer products spinout of precision fermentation platform company Perfect Day, unveiled a new product this week, the “Climate Hero Super Cake.” The yellow cake mix uses the same animal-free milk protein found in the company’s ice cream and replaces the equivalent of three eggs. The mix – which is packaged in a compostable bag – contains other standard ingredients like wheat flour and sugar and requires added oil and water to prepare. One bag of the mix makes two 8-inch round cakes and costs $18.

Daring raises $65 million, launches in Walmart

Daring Foods, a plant-based chicken brand, announced this week that it has closed a Series C round totaling $65 million, and that it will launch its products in Walmart. The round was led by Founders Fund, with D1 Capital Group, and celebrities such as Naomi Osaka, Cameron Newton, Steve Aoki and Chase Coleman participating. This brings the company’s total funding to $120 million. Daring’s plant-based chicken will be available in 3,000 Walmart locations nationwide.

Cometeer’s Flash Frozen Coffee is the Best Thing in My Freezer

Despite my few years of working as a barista in the past, I definitely don’t consider myself a coffee expert of any sort. In fact, I am someone who loves the flavor of a generic-tasting dark roast. What is important to me, however, is the quality of the coffee I’m drinking. I am willing to spend a few extra bucks on coffee from a local roaster, organic coffee beans, or just a quality cup of coffee made with care.

So when I caught wind of a company called Cometeer that not only works with some of the best roasters in the country, but also delivers the brewed end product using flash-frozen pucks, I was more than a little intrigued.

The company’s frozen coffee pucks contain 26 grams of coffee, and are brewed with Cometeer’s proprietary extraction process. To preserve the flavor and aroma, the coffee extract is flash-frozen at negative 321 degrees. The pucks, which are individually packed in aluminum capsules, can be stored in a freezer for up to 18 months.

Cometeer is strict with its verbiage when it comes to describing its product, and for good reason. Its coffee pucks are neither instant coffee nor coffee concentrate, but just flash-frozen, coffee extract. Instant coffees can have that old, and even burnt, flavor. Coffee concentrates, in my opinion, can be too acidic and make me feel jittery. 

The company shipped me five boxes, with each 8-puck box offering a different roast:

  • Bird Rock Coffee Roasters, Timor (decaf)
  • Counter Culture Coffee, Indido (light)
  • Equator, Mocha Java (dark)
  • George Howell Coffee, Alchemy (dark)
  • GGET, Chelbesa (light)

In total, I received 40 coffee pucks, which were kept frozen in the shipping process with dry ice. The instructions had me run hot water over the capsules for 10 seconds, peel the lid back, and plop the frozen coffee puck into a glass mug. I then poured 8 oz of boiling water over the puck and, just like that, I had a fresh cup of hot coffee.

As a dark coffee lover, my favorite roasts were the Mocha Java (dark roast) and Alchemy (medium roast). I loved how convenient and consistent the coffee was. I’ve never figured out the perfect ratio for making french press or pour-over coffee, and I enjoyed not having to measure anything except for the water when making Cometeer’s coffee.

I’ve avoided using a Keurig due to its plastic pods, but appreciated that Comeeter’s 100 percent aluminum capsules are fully recyclable. Keurig pods must be separated apart to be recycled, but the aluminum pods have no plastic and can just be dropped in the recycling bin.

When it comes to price, each puck costs $2, which ends up being cheaper than a coffee from a coffeeshop. However, using the pucks ends up being more expensive than making coffee from grounds. In my opinion, the taste and convenience make it worth the price, and see this product as something handy to keep in the freezer.

Although we have officially entered hot coffee season, the pucks would also be a great way to make a quick iced coffee or iced latte. Once the pucks are melted, they can simply be poured over ice and water, or ice and milk.

My boyfriend, the coffee snob between us, thoroughly enjoyed the light roasts and was soon making two cups of the Cometeer a day. A friend who I offered the Alchemy dark roast thought the flash-frozen coffee was freshly brewed in my kitchen. 

This week, Cometeer raised $35 million in a Series B round of funding, and plans to use the new capital will be used to increase manufacturing capabilities and expand its relationship with roasters. They’ve also dropped the waitlist from its website so now anyone can order a box of coffee pucks, so if you want to try Cometeer, the first box purchased costs $48 ($64 after your first order) for four boxes containing eight capsules and free shipping.

The Week in Food Tech Funding: Olio Continues Food Waste’s Hot Streak

Food waste reduction is a hot investment space and one of the most active investor segments within the broader category in surplus food marketplaces.

And last week food waste kept on trucking as Olio, perhaps the most well-known of the share-your-food app startups, announced a $43 million Series B investment. Cofounder Tessa Clarke describes the funding as transformational via this Medium post and explains the three ways she sees funding being put to use:

  • Investment in Core Product: The company plans to hire more developers and build out new features in the core product, including “new features such as ‘Borrow’ and ‘Wanted’.”
  • Expansion of Food Waste Hero Programme: The company plans on expanding its corporate partner program that sources food from food service companies to pick up their excess food waste and redistribute into the community
  • International: the company is eyeing expansion into markets beyond Europe and North America, and it currently has 10 most promising in mind in ” Latin American, Asian & Northern European regions.”.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve watched as companies like Too Good to Go, Flashfood and Karma have raised funding to expand their platforms that enable restaurants and grocery stores to sell excess or soon-to-expire food to deal-shopping and lower-income consumers.

What sets Olio apart is that it enables home to home sharing for food. In this way, it’s like a more focused and less cluttered version of the Buy Nothing Facebook groups that have popped up in recent years. According to Clarke’s Medium post, Olio has helped save 25 million portions of food and 3 million other household items from being tossed in the waste bin.

Olio’s round continues a hot streak for food waste prevention investment over the past month after we saw Apeel raise an eye-popping quarter billion in funding in August. Both Apeel and Olio said they’d seen an acceleration in adoption over the past year, which echoes what we heard at our Food Waste Innovation Forum in June: The pandemic forced both companies and consumers to get serious about reducing food waste.

Here’s what else happened in food tech funding:

Plant-Based

Proeon – $2.4 Million: Pune-based plant-based ingredient company Proeon has raised a $2.4 million seed round. The company is similar to Motif Foodworkds in that its focus is building a range of different ingredient building blocks for companies building plant-based food products. The company plans to use its funding to build an R&D facility in the Netherlands, file more patents and hire more people.

CHKN Not Chicken – $4.5 Million: Portland Oregon based plant-based chicken startup CHKN Not Chicken has raised $4.5 million from Stray Dog Capital. The company will use the funding to expand the distribution of its flagship product into retail and grow its restaurant business. Unlike many of the alt-chicken products like Impossible’s new nuggets, which is made with soy, CHKN Not Chicken is made with pea protein.

Precision Fermentation

All G Foods – AU$16 million: Australian alt-protein startup All G Foods has raised AU$16 million in seed funding to fund growth for its plant-based meat business (Love BUDS Meat) and its precision fermentation-based alt-milk (CellMilk). The company is moving fast with veteran entrepreneur Jan Pacas at the helm. Pacas, who cofounded pet-sitting website Mad Paws, started the company only a year ago.

Cell-Based Meat

CellX – $4.3M: China-based cell-based meat startup CellX has raised $4.3 million in funding. The company makes a cell-based pork product. The company, which has 25 scientists working on developing its cell-based meat product platform in Shanghai. CellX is one of two startups this week that are semifinalists for the XPRIZE “Feed the Next Billion” competition, which is an indication that investors see participation in the XPRIZE contest as a validation of the company.

Wild Earth – $23 Million – Plant-based pet food startup Wild Earth announced a $23 million funding round from a group of investors that includes Mark Cuban and the star of Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley. The company plans to use the funding to expand its pet food product line into products that use cell-based meat. The company plans to offer cell-based beef, chicken, pork, and seafood as part of the ingredient list for the new lineup, which it plans to start rolling out in 2022.

Mogale Meat Co. – Investment Amount Unknown: Mogale Meat Co, a South African-based cultured meat company, received an investment from alt-protein investor CULT Food Science Corp. Mogale plans to use the capital to invest in BioBank, which, according to the announcement, is “Mogale’s core intellectual property asset that currently contains over 500 cryo-preserved cell samples derived from free-roaming livestock and wild antelope.” Like CeeX, Mogale is an XPRIZE “Feed the Next Billion” semi-finalist.

Food Delivery

Cookunity – $47 million; Chef-powered meal delivery service CookUnity raises a $47 million Series B funding round. CookUnity, which provides chefs with kitchens and the digital platform to connect directly with consumers, is planning on using the money to expand the cities it’s doing business in. The company saw a topline revenue growth rate of over 5x over the past 12 months and has 55 chefs on its roster.

Food Robotics

Piestro – $2 Million+: Piestro, the automated artisanal pizza-making robot that is part of the Wavemaker Labs family of food robot investments, has raised over $2 million on crowdfunding startup platform StartEngine with less than three weeks to go. WaveMaker has continued to emphasize equity crowdfunding as a way to raise capital, starting with Miso Robotics, in which the company has raised $30 million so far via crowdfunding, and other portfolio properties such as the Bobacino robotic tea bar and Future Acres’ ag-bot.

Restaurant Tech

Heard – $10 Million: Hospitality and restaurant point of sale startup Heard has raised $10 million. The company, which counts Tiger Woods as one of its investors, makes point of sale software suite that includes front and back-of-house management tools for smaller restaurant operators.

That’s it for this week. If you have funding news you want in our weekly food tech news wrapup, let us know. And make sure you subscribe if you want to get The Week in Food Tech Funding in your inbox.

Stockeld Dreamery Raises €16.5 Million for Legume-Based Alternative Cheeses

This week, Swedish plant-based cheese company Stockeld Dreamery announced that it has raised €16.5 million (~$20 million USD) in a Series A round, according to a release sent to The Spoon. Led by Astanor Ventures and Northzone, the funding round also saw participation from new investors, including Trellis Road, Eurazeo, Norrsken VC, Edastra, Gullspång Re:food, and several angel investors. This brings the company’s total funding to around $24 million USD.

Stockeld Dreamery, formerly known as Noquo Foods, launched its first product in May 2021, called Stockeld Chunk. The plant-based cheese is an alternative to feta and is made from a base of fermented peas and fava beans. Similar to feta’s nutritional composition, it contains 20 percent fat, 1.5 percent carbs, and 13 percent protein.

The company is currently hiring and is planning to use the new capital to grow its team from 22 people to about 50. In 2022, Stockeld will move into a pilot production plant and headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.

Alternative milk and dairy are the largest categories in the plant-based space, with the alternative cheese category alone growing a total of 42.5 percent in 2020. Stockeld Dreamery is not the only plant-based cheese company to raise a hefty funding round this year; Miyoko’s Creamery raised a $52 million Series C round in August, and Nobel Foods closed a $75 million funding round in July.

For now, Stockeld Dreamery’s first alternative cheese product is only available in select retailers in Stockholm, Sweden. However, the press release mentioned that after moving into its new facility, the company will release new products and expand its distribution outside of the country.

Food Waste Start-up Agricycle Global Raises $2.4M Seed Round

Agricycle Global, a food and agriculture waste start-up based in Wisconsin, announced this week that it has raised a two-part seed round totaling $2.4 million. The round was led by MaSa Partners and CSA Partners, with participation from Wisconsin Investment Partners, Brightstar Wisconsin, and several angel investors.

The start-up works across Sub-Saharan Africa with local farmers and communities to upcycle food ingredients and build a sustainable supply chain. This year, Agricycle launched two new brands that were distributed to over 1,000 U.S. stores. The start-up’s mission is to work with those who have typically been excluded from global food markets, including women, youth, and smallholder farmers.

Tropicoal Ignition, one of Agricycle’s brands, employs women to gather spent cassava root, coconut shells, and palm kernel shells that would normally go to waste. These ingredients are then processed and made into cooking charcoal.

In sub-Saharan Africa, about 25 to 50 percent of all produce is wasted post-harvest and before it even reaches the market. This is due to insufficient transportation, processing, drying, and storage. To combat this, Agricycle supplies solar dehydrators to small farmers and woman-led cooperatives that harvest jackfruit, mango, and pineapple. The fruit is then dried, packaged, and sold under the brand Jali Fruit Co. Each bag of dried fruit features a QR code that consumers can use to see where the ingredients were sourced from.

Whole Foods predicted that upcycled foods would be a trend this year, and the entire market is currently worth over $46.7 billion. This past April, the Upcycled Food Association launched a “Upcycled Certified” label shine the light on CPG companies focused on reducing food waste.

Agricycle will use the capital to launch its ingredient supplying business called Field Better Ingredients. The new brand will supply organic gluten-free flours made from 100 percent fruit to CPG manufacturers and bakeries.

Plant-Based News Round-Up: OmniPork in America, $3M for Alternative Cheese

Earlier this month, Bloomberg Intelligence released a report called “Plant-Based Foods Poised for Explosive Growth” that stated the alternatives proteins and dairy market could increase to $162 billion in the next decade. The plant-based space is seemingly always expanding, innovating, and churning out news. To keep you updated, we’ve gathered recent updates on companies in the space, including Omnipork, Hooray Foods, and Misha’s Kind Foods.

Omnipork launches in Sprouts and whole foods locations throughout the U.S.

Omnipork, a China-based brand owned by OmniFoods, announced this week that it has brought its alternative pork products to America. The company’s alternative pork strips, grounds, and luncheon products at now available at all 371 Sprouts locations and 200 Whole Foods Market stores. In addition to America, Omnipork has also recently expanded throughout Asia, Australia, and the UK. The alternative pork product is made predominantly from pea protein, soy, rice, and shitake mushrooms, and was originally crafted for the Asian market.

Left: Founder of Hooray Foods Sri Artham

Hooray Foods partners with Imperfect Foods

Hooray Foods, an alternative meat company, shared with The Spoon that it has partnered with Imperfect Foods, an online grocer focused on reducing food waste. Starting September 2nd, Hooray Foods’ bacon will be available for purchase on the grocer’s site as an add-on to shoppers’ weekly subscription boxes. The alternative bacon is made from a base of coconut oil, rice flour, tapioca starch, and can also be found at select Whole Foods and independent grocery retailers throughout the U.S.

In 2020, the plant-based bacon category doubled from 2019, increasing to a value of $267 million. Hooray Foods currently faces competition in the alternative bacon space from Prime Roots and AtLast.

Misha’s raises $3 million for alternative cheese

Misha’s Kind Foods, the California-based alternative dairy company, announced this week that it has raised a $3 million seed round. The round was led by Jay-Z’s Marcy Ventures Partners Fund ll, L.P., Lisa Shamus & Partners, and Chris Paul. This new capital will allow the company to focus on product development, retail expansion, and growing its team. Misha produces non-dairy cheese products made from a blend of almonds and cashews, as well as herbs, vegetables, and spices.

The plant-based cheese category alone has experienced a 70 percent growth in the past two years. Although this category is not as mature and large as alternative dairy, Misha’s faces an abundance of competition from well-funded companies like Miyoko’s Creamery, Nobell, and Grounded Foods.

Ai Palette Raises $4.4M USD for Trend-Predicting Tech

Singapore-based Ai Palette announced today that it has raised $4.4 million USD in an oversubscribed Series A round. The round was co-led by Exfinity Venture Partners and pi Ventures, with participation from Anthill Ventures and return investors VC AgFunder and Decacorn Capital. This brings the company’s total funding to $5.5 million USD.

Ai Palette uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to help CPG and food companies predict consumer trends as they emerge. The company’s first product is called Foresight Engine, which can track a trend’s future trajectory, consumers driving it, and its maturity. The machine learning platform recognizes 15 different languages and can process data from various sources including images.

It is estimated that approximately 10,000 new CPG products are released each year, and within two years, 85 percent of these products will fail. Staying ahead of trends can help companies differentiate from competitors, directly target consumer preferences, and time product launches.

The use of AI and machine learning can help identify trends early, and speed up the R&D process. In turn, this can help food companies bring their product to market faster. Besides Ai Palette, several other companies offer trend-predicting services including Tastewise, Spoonshot, Halla, and Analytical Flavor Systems.

Besides emerging trends, these services can additionally predict taste preferences in different regions of the world. For example, Ai Palette analyzed 1.2 billion data points to track beverage trends in the U.S., Canada, India, and Southeast Asia during the summertime. It was found that in the U.S., the use of acerola cherry in juice drinks has experienced a year-over-year growth rate of 254 percent.

Ai Palette will use its new capital to expand its customer base outside of Asia, recruit new data science and engineering talent, and develop new product lines.

WoodSpoon Raises $14M to Expand its Home Chef Marketplace

WoodSpoon, the New York City-based online marketplace where home chefs can make their food available for ordering and on-demand delivery, announced today that it has raised a $14 million Series A round of funding. Restaurant Brands International (RBI) led the round with participation from World Trade Ventures, Victor Lazarte and other individual investors. This brings the total amount of funding raised by WoodSpoon to $16 million.

WoodSpoon is part of a slowly but steadily rising movement of startups such as DishDivvy and Shef that enable home cooks to sell their wares online. WoodSpoon vets potential home cooks for safety, sanitation and food quality before admitting them on to the platform. Once a chef is onboarded, WoodSpoon takes care of the logistics like insurance and delivery, and even helps with things like food photos and videos to better tell chefs’ stories. WoodSpoon currently operates in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens in New York City, where users download the WoodSpoon app or visit the website, order a meal and have it delivered in 30 to 40 minutes.

Oren Saar, Co-Founder and CEO of WoodSpoon told me during a video chat last week that the company currently has 150 active home chefs on its platform (“active” means they’ve cooked meals for sale two times in the past month). Saar also said that 35 percent of customers who buy their first meal on WoodSpoon buy an additional three meals on the service within 17 days.

Selling home-cooked meals is still very much a new idea, and regulations are still being worked out on a state-by-state basis. Because of this, Saar said that WoodSpoon puts a lot of effort into educating potential customers about the idea of buying your neighbor’s home cooked meals. Part of that process, Saar said, was putting the chefs front and center, highlighting the home cooks themselves and the kitchens where meals are made. “You can read everything about the chef making your food,” Saar said, “That should reduce the automatic bias.”

WoodSpoon’s funding is the second big raise we’ve seen from a home cook marketplace this summer, as Shef raised $20 million in June. Shef is a little different from WoodSpoon however, as Shef isn’t on-demand. It delivers prepared meals cold that are then heated up by the customer.

With its new capital, Saar said that WoodSpoon will expand to cover all of New York City before moving on to be in up to 15 different markets across the U.S. Worth noting about this funding round is that it’s led by RBI, which owns the famous QSR brands Burger King, Popeye’s and Tim Horton’s. RBI’s involvement could possibly help accelerate regulatory clarity and acceptance of legalized home cooking across the country, and perhaps it could even help create mini home cook moguls go from neighborhood business to national brand.

Plant-based Cheesemaker Miyoko’s Creamery Raises $52M Series C

Miyoko’s Creamery, which makes plant-based cheese and butter, announced today that it has raised $52 million in Series C funding. PowerPlant Partners led the round, putting in $40 million, with participation from Cult Capital, Obvious Ventures, Stray Dog and CPT Capital.

Miyoko’s makes a range of vegan dairy products including cultured butter, mozzarella, cheese slices, artisanal cheese wheels and cheese spreads made from fermented plant-milks. The company’s products are currently available in 30,000 stores across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong and Singapore. With its new funding, Miyoko’s said it will advance both its distribution and product innovation to get “higher nutrient density, performance and flavor.”

According to the Good Food Institute (GFI), the plant-based butter category grew 36 percent from 2019 to 2020 and the category is now worth $275 million in the U.S. GFI data also shows the market for plant-based cheese is even greater with sales of those products growing 42 percent from 2019 to 2020 to make that category worth $270 million.

And where there are growing sales, there are also startups creating products to sell. Miyoko’s is among a rising co-hort of companies offering new and improved plant-based cheeses. Nobell Foods just came out of stealth mode a couple weeks back and announced it has raised $75 million. Stockeld Dreamery launched its first feta-like plant-based cheese in Sweden in May. And Grounded Foods‘ vegan cheese sauce and spread is available for purchase as well.

In its funding announcement today, Miyoko’s said that this year it will launch a liquid pizza mozzarella that pours out like sauce and bakes up into stretchy cheese. The company is also working on a reformulation of its Medium Cheddar and Pepper Jack cheeses.

Spoon founder Mike Wolf sat down with Miyoko’s Creamery Founder, Miyoko Schinner a few months back to talk about her fascinating backstory, which includes run-ins with both the Japanese mafia and a legal battle with the state of California.

Gopuff Confirms Latest $1B Funding Round

Gopuff announced today that it has raised another $1 billion in funding, confirming reports from last week of just such a round. New investors Blackstone’s Horizon platform, Guggenheim Investments, Hedosophia, MSD Partners, and Adage Capital joined with existing investors Fidelity Management and Research Company, Softbank Vision Fund 1, Atreides Management, and Eldridge in the round.

The new money comes just months after Gopuff raised $1.5 billion, in March of this year. With this new haul, Gopuff has now raised $3.4 billion in total and has a $15 billion valuation.

According to a press announcement emailed to The Spoon, Gopuff will use the new money fuel its geographic expansion across North America and further into the UK and Europe. Gopuff currently operates 450 facilities operating in more than 850 cities across the U.S.

Here in the U.S., Gopuff’s massive fundraising this year far surpasses the comparatively paltry sums raised by its speedy grocery delivery competition. JOKR is a distant second with $170 million, Fridge No More raised $15.4 million, Food Rocket raised $2 million and 1520 has raised an undisclosed seed round.

Gopuff will face more stiff competition as they spread across Europe. The speedy grocery delivery scene there is a little more mature — and better funded than their U.S. counterparts. Spain-based Glovo has raised $1.2 billion, Turkey-based Getir raised $1 billion, and Germany-based Gorillas has raised $335.4 million. (Side note: if you want to raise funding for you speedy grocery delivery startup, start your company name with the letter “G.”) And that doesn’t include all the other players like Flink, Weezy, and Jiffy.

But Gopuff isn’t just expanding its footprint. The company is also branchig beyond straight up grocery delivery and into pre-made meals. Gopuff officially launched Gopuff Kitchen last week, and is already serving hot pizza, chicken tenders, salads, coffees and more in cities like Austin, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and San Antonio.

The speedy grocery delivery started in earnest this year. And with $2.5 billion raised in the past six months, Gopuff has armed itself to try and finish them.