Sweetgreen Aims for Unicorn Status, Food Tech Industry to Reach $250B by 2022, PepsiCo Acquires Health Warrior + More

Source: Inc.

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.

This week, fast casual salad chain Sweetgreen announced a $200 million fundraising round from Fidelity Investments that would value it at over $1 billion. The PepsiCo HIVE has made its first acquisition in plant-based startup Health Warrior. Financial terms were undisclosed. The China-based investment firm Hillhouse Capital has launched a $100 million fund targeting consumer brands with a global reach and differentiated offerings.

And finally, Research and Markets published a report stating that the global food industry is set to reach $250 billion by 2022.

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. This Salad Chain Is Aiming to Be a $1B Company – CNBC

Fidelity is leading an investment in Sweetgreen, a deal that would value the company at just over $1b.

2. PepsiCo Buys Health Warrior for the New HIVE Unit – NOSH

The company will serve as the first investment in the PepsiCo HIVE. Financial details were not immediately available.

3. Global Food Tech Industry Expected to Reach $250B by 2022 – Forbes

Some major brands driving the food tech space include Postmates, Domino’s Pizza, DoorDash, Eat24 and GrubHub.

4. Uber Investor Hillhouse Goes After Food and Beverage Startups with $100M Fund – TechCrunch

The new vehicle is targeting consumer brands with a global reach and differentiated offerings, such as organic food. It has made its first offering at an undisclosed amount to Little Freddie, maker of EU-certified organic baby food.

5. Lessons From Pilotworks’ Demise

The need for experienced leadership, accountability and diversity are just a few of the lessons former employee Andrea Carbine says we can learn from Pilotworks’ abrupt shutdown.

6. On-Demand Delivery Startup Deliv Secures $40M in Funding – Grocery Dive

Investors included Alphabet Inc’s Google and Enterprise Holdings. The company currently operates in 1.4k cities across the US for retailers like Walmart.

7. Blockchain of Food

Join us on November 5th at our November Food+Tech meetup to hear from Phil Harris of Ripe.io, Jasmine Crowe of Goodr, Nicolas Jammet of Sweetgreen and Dr. Dan Beckmann of Foodshed.io as they discuss how they are leveraging blockchain technology to improve the food system.

8. Clear Labs Closes $21M Funding Round to Advance Food Safety Solutions – Food Dive

Menlo Ventures led the round, bringing total raised to $45m. The company will use new funding to expand features and increase commercialization of its food safety testing platform.

9. Geltor Raises $18.2M, Gears Up for 2020 Launch of Animal-Free Collagen Proteins for the Food Industry – Food Navigator

The investment was led by Cultivan Sandbox Ventures and supported by GELITA, ADM Ventures, Cavallo Ventures and Box Group. The company is gearing up for the 2020 launch of commercial quantities for the food industry.

10. Joe & The Juice’s Private Equity Owners Want an IPO for 2019 – Skift Table

Valedo Partners and General Atlantic have begun internal preparations and could appoint banks in the first half of 2019. The chain could command a valuation of $1.5b.

11. Grocers Enlist Robots to Chase E-Commerce – Wall Street Journal

Venture firms have invested more than $1.2b in grocery technology this year, double the total for 2017.

12. India: BigBasket in Talks to Raise Funds at $1.5-2B Valuation – Livemint

The grocer may raise $400m as part of its latest funding talks with an undisclosed investor. It would make the startup India’s eighth unicorn this year.

13. India: SoftBank to Lead $150M Funding Round in Grofers – EO India

Other participants include Metro AG, Tiger Global, Yuri Milner and Sequoia Capital. The Indian grocery sector is set to achieve a growth of ₹100b in the next three years.

14. Food Delivery Startups Might Be Boring, But They’ve Returned 7x in Europe in 5 Years – AgFunder

HelloFresh, Delivery Hero, Deliveroo, Just East and takeaway.com raised a combined €3.1b between 2001 and 2012. Now, they have a combined value of €21b.

15. Skyscraper Farms Are About to Go Global – Bloomberg

Japan-based Spread Co is preparing to open the world’s largest automated leafy green factory.

16. Women, Women of Color & Gender Non-Conforming Innovator Database

We created this open-source list to increase representation, support and investment in women, women of color & gender-nonconforming innovators in food. Join the list & help us spread the word using #womxninfood

17. Join the Alpha Food Labs Community

We’re rethinking the way food is made, starting with community. The Alpha Community. Join us to help develop, test, and get early access to food designed for your tastes and values.

18. Walmart’s Warehouse Chain Tries to Get High-Tech with Test Store – Bloomberg

The retailer is opening a test store in Dallas called Sam’s Club Now, where shoppers will make all their purchases on their smartphones, which they’ll also use to build shopping lists and navigate around the store.

19. USDA and FDA Agree to Jointly Regulate Cell-Cultured Meat. And Yes, It’s Meat – New Food Economy

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced that the two agencies intend to jointly regulate these new products.

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