Amazon to Open 3K Go Stores by 2021, Postmates Closes $300M Round + More

Source: Fast Company

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has announced plans to rapidly expand Amazon Go stores, opening up to 3,000 locations by 2021. The company is experimenting with the convenient store format that aims to meat the demand of the mealtime rush.

Food delivery service Postmates has closed a $300 million round led by Tiger Global to advance its technology and explore robots and automation.

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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3. Amazon Will Consider Opening Up to 3K Cashierless Stores by 2021 – Bloomberg

Jeff Bezos sees eliminating meal-time logjams in busy cities as the best way for Amazon to reinvent the brick-and-mortar shopping experience, where most spending still occurs.

4. Tiger Global Leads $300M Investment in Postmates Delivery – Bloomberg

The investment values Postmates at about $1.2b. With the new funding, Postmates plans to advance the technology its restaurant merchants use at point-of-sale. It is also researching ways to use automation and robots to make cheaper and faster deliveries.

5. Indigo Raises $250M, Launches Marketplace to Help Farmers Get Paid for Quality Grain – TechCrunch

Existing investors Baillie Gifford, the Alaska Permanent Fund, the Investment Corporation of Dubai and Flagship Pioneering participated in the round. Using Indigo Marketplace, buyers can purchase grain directly from farmers.

6. Coca-Cola Is Eyeing the Cannabis Market – Bloomberg

Coca-Cola says it’s monitoring the nascent industry and is interested in drinks infused with CBD. The soft drinks maker is in talks with Canadian marijuana producer Aurora Canabis to develop the beverages.

7. Walmart to Acquire Mexico & Chile-Focused Grocery Delivery Service Cornershop For $225M – TechCrunch

Cornershop is a startup that runs marketplaces, through an app, for on-demand delivery from supermarkets, pharmacies and other food retailers in Mexico and Chile. It recently raised $21m in a Series B funding round in 2017.

8. India: Walmart Got Flipkart but Amazon Now Has More – Quartz

Amazon has acquired a stake in food and grocery retail chain More. The deal is estimated at $582m.

9. Milk & Eggs Raises $6M Seed Funding for ‘Made-to-Order’ Online Farmers Market – AgFunder

Morningside Venture Capital led the funding, which will be used to fund its growth and improve on customer experience.

10. $3M Grant Program Plants Seed Money to Grow More Meat without Animals – Forbes

The Good Food Institute announced a grant program for universities and startups working on plant-based and cultured meat research with the goal of creating new technologies and ingredients used by all.

12. Treez Raises $11.5M Series A for Cannabis Point of Sale Software – AgFunder

The round was led by Intrinsic Capital Partners. It will be used to expand its team, explore and invest in beneficial partnerships as well as to bring more creative retail management solutions to the industry.

13. Aldi Is Rolling Out Grocery Delivery Across the US in a Direct Assault Against Walmart, Amazon and Kroger – Business Insider

Aldi is expanding grocery delivery nationwide through a partnership with Instacart. It is also launching a test of curbside pickup.

14. India: Ola Enters a Third International Market with a Bigger War Chest – Quartz

Just a month after its last funding round, Ola has raised $50m from Sailing Capital and the China-Eurasian Economic Cooperation Fund. The company will now enter its third foreign market—New Zealand.

15. UK: Vegan Meal Delivery Startup Allplants Is Served £7.5M Series A Funding – TechCrunch

The round is led by VC firm Octopus Ventures. It will use the investment to develop a broader range of ready-to-eat food, accelerate the growth of its community, further grow its team and expand the capacity of its production kitchen.

16. JUST Gears Up for Late 2018 Cell-Based Meat Launch, but Says More Meaningful Quantities Are 2-3 Years Out – Food Navigator

The ‘KFC-style’ ground chicken product will be tested at a restaurant outside of the US to test consumer reactions.

17. Amazon Launches Storefronts to Give 20K Small Businesses a Bigger Spotlight – TechCrunch

The portal celebrates mom-and-pop shops and other smaller merchants that sell through the platform.

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