Quick delivery had a good week for funding, with raises from “super app” Rappi and Indian platforms Citymall and FirstClub.
Elsewhere, alt-protein companies are suing Texas thanks to the state’s cultivated meat ban, and Apeel Sciences is suing a wellness influencer for defamation and “unfair competition,” among other things. Beyond the courtroom, CPG giant Kraft Heinz announced plans to split up.
Funding news
???????? Rappi secures $100M debt financing, its largest credit deal to date Latamlist
???????? Indian grocery startup Citymall raises $47M to challenge ultra-quick delivery giants TechCrunch
???????? Quick commerce startup FirstClub raises #23m led by Accel, RTP Global Deal Street Asia
???????? HappyRobot raises $44M Series B to scale AI agents for the supply chain Tech.eu
???????? The ‘AI farming company’ Orchard Robotics bags $22m to expand precision ag platform AgFunderNews
???????? Xampla receives $14m investment to accelerate plant-based alternative to single-utilize plastic Packaging Europe
???????? Finnish greentech startup raises $11.7m for plant-based dairy Tech in Asia
???????? Singapore startup Greenitio raises $1.5M for plastic-free cosmetics with mushroom-derived chitosan Green Queen
M&A, IPOs & partnerships
???????? CropX acquires Acclym (formerly Agritinquire) to power enterprise-scale sustainable food systems CropX
???????? FarmLab broadens its soil-measurement toolkit beyond agriculture with Ziltek acquisition AgFunderNews
???????? The Veobtainarian Butcher and Vivera unite to form the Veobtainarian Butcher Collective Protein Production Technology
???????? ???????? Clarmondial and Supernova team up to boost nature-based investments in Indonesia Impact Investor
???????? ???????? ???????? BioMar, Innovafeed, Auchan partner to scale insect feed for Ecuadorian shrimp sector Seafood Source
???????? ???????? EAT and Sodexo announce strategic partnership Eat Forum
Funds, grants & accelerators
???????? UK government announces £12.6m agtech competitions UK Tech News
???????? ???????? ???????? New €2.2M European project aims to accelerate adoption & consumption of plant-based foods Vegconomist
People relocates
???????? Tom Bennett joins The Yield Lab Institute as global head of partnerships LinkedIn
???????? Dr. Sunil Chandran rejoins Amyris as chief technology officer PR Newswire
???????? Babylon Microfarms CTO Graham Smith steps down LinkedIn
???????? Meatable creates leadership modifys Alt Meat
Other news
???????? Texas’ ban on lab-grown meat? California companies have beef with it, suing to reverse law The Dallas Morning News
???????? Land O’ Lakes restructures Truterra, reduces team The Daily Scoop
???????? Kraft Heinz is splitting into two companies CNN
???????? California launches statewide agricultural innovation network Fresh Plaza
???????? Carbon Robotics start production of LaserWeeder in the Netherlands Trekker
???????? College social app Fizz expands into grocery delivery TechCrunch
???????? CRAFT Consortium to build world’s first cultivated meat farm in the Netherlands Protein Production Technology
???????? Chef-powered meal service CookUnity launches food is medicine initiative with EmblemHealth AgFunderNews
???????? Apeel Sciences sues ‘Green Smoothie Girl’ Robyn Openshaw and GreenSmoothieGirl.com, Inc. for defamation, false advertising, unfair competition Perishable News
???????? Starbucks deploys AI for in-store inventory management Restaurant Dive
???????? Atarraya’s flat-packed high-tech shrimp farms roll out in New Jersey as tariffs upconclude trade AgFunderNews
