food and drink
Hydration brand Cure mixes new funding into its growth plans
The functional beverage market is indeed "exploding:" Cure continues to have about 60% penetration in e-commerce, and outpaced first-quarter 2022 growth by 121%.
Cultured meat startup Prolific Machines unveils its ‘Henry Ford approach’ to cell growth
Its technology is a way to grow and control cells without the need for any of those expensive recombinant proteins for cell production.
Starbucks details its blockchain-based loyalty platform and NFT community, Starbucks Odyssey
Starbucks is today officially introducing Starbucks Odyssey, launching later this year — the coffee chain’s first foray into building with web3 technology. The new experience combines the
Bond Pet Foods enters meat proteins phase with $17.5M Series A
The company, using precision fermentation to create “nature-identical” chicken, beef, fish and other meat proteins, intends to be commercially ready in two years.
Solar Foods wants to replace industrial animal farming with a high-tech protein harvest
Fermentation has a long, rich history in food production, from beer and wine to yogurt and cheese, leavened bread and coffee, miso and tempeh, sauerkraut and kimchi, to name just a few of the tasty th
SIMULATE targets restaurants with new simulated chicken products
Alternative protein startup SIMULATE, known for its NUGGS and TENDERS, is introducing two new versions of its plant-based, simulated chicken product aimed at restaurants.
Planted gets $72M to put whole cuts of vegan chicken on Europe’s menu
Planted, a Swiss startup that’s cooking up alternative proteins using biostructuring and fermentation to serve “clean” cuts of vegan meat — such as the plant-based chicken brea
Mermade Seafoods swims in cell agriculture waters to make cultivated scallops
Mermade Seafoods' circular approach uses biowaste to feed algae, which is then used as the growth media to feed the cells. The company calls this interpretation of aquaponics “cytoponics."
Lumachain, using computer vision to transform meat production, bites into new capital
Lumachain's goal is to solve some of the global meat industry's key challenges, including employee shortages and supply chain disruptions.
ConverseNow expands its drive-thru ordering tech as it bags another $10M
A problem has always existed in drive-thrus, but the technology has “never existed to solve the problem and is still not there 100%," according to ConverseNow CEO Vinay Shukla.
Aero raises $65M for its semi-private airline
Aero Technologies, which describes itself as a “next-generation air travel company” which currently operates on a limited number of routes in the U.S. and Europe, today announced that it h
Eat Just bags $25M, gets Alibaba’s help to sell alternative protein in China
China is a notoriously difficult market for international startups to crack, but one company seems to have found the recipe for wooing the country’s picky consumers. Three years after Eat Just l
Your future shrimp meal could come from Atarraya’s farming technology
The company's three-pronged technology includes creating ideal environment for the shrimp, remote operations management and AI-powered automation to monitor and feed them.
Starbucks to unveil its web3-based rewards program next month
Starbucks will unveil its web3 initiative, which includes coffee-themed NFTs, at next month’s Investor Day event. The company earlier this year announced its plans to enter the web3 space, notin
Pink Sauce went viral on TikTok. But then it exploded (literally).
Over the last month, a chef in Miami has been taking over TikTok with her signature product: Pink Sauce. Carly Pii, who uses the handle @chef.pii, posted a series of videos promoting her homemade cond
Meati Foods sinks teeth into $150M to expand its mushroom-root meat operations
After five years of research, Meati Foods is poised to begin shipping its plant-based meat product later this year.
Fyto combines automation, robotics so aquatic ‘superplants’ can grow almost anywhere
The company's pilot program showed that farms are able to generate 10 to 20 times more protein per acre and use five to 10 times less water than other crops, like alfalfa.
Eclipse Foods isn’t out to substitute dairy — it’s on a mission to replace it
The company’s ice cream mix is the base for Smashburger’s new non-dairy milkshakes, representing “the first nationally available non-dairy milkshakes at a fast-casual restaurant chain.”
Saltalk turns up the heat on its virtual kitchen following new $8M cash infusion
Saltalk, a virtual kitchen and e-commerce platform, closed on $8 million of Series A financing to continue developing its one-two punch of authentic cuisine, made by both restaurant chefs and home coo
Rohlik bags $231M despite the market cooling on food delivery startups
The salad days are over for many startups in the online food delivery sector. Following a long period of cash injections, splashy and high-profile promotions, and interesting experiments toying with t