Hampton Creek’s Funding Woes, Yummly & Spoon University Get Acquired + More Top News

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Last week’s top news was dominated by several major acquisitions. Whirlpool bought recipe search engine Yummly and Scripps Network picked up the millennial-focused online food publication Spoon University. In CPG and retail news, scandal-ridden Hampton Creek is struggling to find investors while, despite recalls, Soylent raised $50M and the future of Whole Foods remains to be seen.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

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1. 20 Leaders Under 40 Who Are Shaping the Future of our Food System – Food Tank

We’re humbled that our own Danielle Gould is among the impressive list of honorees. Congrats to all!

2. GIVN Aims to be the TOMS of Water

For every bottle of water purchased, GIVN donates one day of clean water to a person in need.

3. Hampton Creek Can’t Find New Investors for Its Vegan Mayo– Grub Street

After an investigation by the SEC and a current management crisis, Hampton Creek has only raised $7M towards its goal of $150M.

4. Despite Setbacks, Soylent Drinks up $50M in Fresh Funding– Tech Crunch 

Having weathered multiple recalls, Soylent has raised $50M in a round that brought their total funding to $74.5M. GV’s Andy Wheeler led the round with Tao Capital Partners, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz also contributing.

5. Meatless Burger Startup Impossible Foods Beefs up Management Team – Fortune

David Lipman—the director of the National Center for Biotechnology Information—is coming on as its first chief science officer overseeing R&D and information technology.

6. What’s Next for an Embattled Whole Foods? – Food Dive

Facing mounting pressure from shareholders, the natural organic chain needs to produce results quickly or consider a sale.

7. How Amazon is Disrupting Grocery – Food Dive

The e-commerce giant isn’t killing it in the space — yet — but analysts say its efforts are poised to payoff in the long run.

8. Whirlpool Acquires Yummly, the Recipe Search Engine Last Valued at $100M – Tech Crunch

For Whirlpool, the acquisition is one of many steps that the company has taken over the years to place itself into the current and next-generation of how consumers cook.

9. Scripps Network Buys Online Food Content Startup Spoon University – The Spoon

Scripps Network has reached an agreement to acquire leading millennial-focused online food publication company Spoon University. Sources say Spoon University is being valued at $10M.

10. How BuzzFeed and Mondelez Brought Healthy Food Videos to the Masses – The Wall Street Journal

Seven months after launching Goodful—a Facebook-centric brand focused on making healthy food videos—snack-food giant Mondelez is handing over the reins to BuzzFeed.