Source: Discover Los Angeles

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.

Cultured meat, dairy and seafood made headlines this week. Animal-free dairy protein company Perfect Day has closed $140 million in funding led by Temasek. Cellular aquaculture startup BluNalu has unveiled a culinary demo of its cultured yellowtail. Amsterdam-based Meatable has raised $10 million to develop lab-grown pork.

Meanwhile, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown has hinted at developing poultry in 2020. Kroger is trialing dedicated plant-based meat sets within its conventional meat department in 30 stores. JUST has acquired its first manufacturing facility to reduce the cost of producing its plant-based eggs.

In other news, Delivery Hero is nearing and agreement to acquire Woowa for $4 billion. Spain’s Glovo has raised $166 million for its deliver anything app. Uber is in talks to sell its India Uber Eats to Zomato.

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

1. Perfect Day Closes $140M Funding Round – Food Dive

The investment was led by Temasek. Perfect Day plans to use this money to bring its product to market and add to its product portfolio.

2. Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown Hints at ‘Poultry’ News In 2020 – Bloomberg

Beyond Meat is pushing further past its plant-based beef and pork into poultry, and CEO Ethan Brown says that product line will finally get more attention in 2020.

3. Korea: Delivery Hero Nears Agreement to Buy Woowa in $4B Deal – Bloomberg

Asia will become the German company’s biggest, fastest-growing market.

4. Spain’s Glovo Grabs $166M Series E for Its ‘Deliver Anything’ App – TechCrunch

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala led the round. The round has pushed Glovo’s valuation past $1b. Funding will be used to achieve profitability.

5. Kroger Begins Test of Plant-Based Meat Retail Concept in 60 Stores – Food Navigator

The retailer has started trialing dedicated 3-ft plant-based meat sets within its conventional meat department in 60 stores in Indiana and Illinois.

6. Cellular Aquaculture Startup BlueNalu Unveils Cell-Based Yellowtail in Culinary Demo – The Spoon 

The startup plans to introduce its cultured seafood to market within the next two years. It has also internally tested mahi mahi and red snapper.

7. Eggless Egg-Maker Buys First Plant in Bid to Crack Costs – Bloomberg

JUST has acquired its first manufacturing facility: a 30k-sq-ft in Minnesota that will make more plant-based eggs for less money.

8. The Netherlands: Unilever Opens $94M Plant-Based Food Research Center in Europe – VegNews

Unilever recently invested in The Hive, where it plans to develop new products, including plant-based meat and sustainable food packaging.

9. Uber Is in Talks to Sell Its India Food-Delivery Business to a Rival – Wall Street Journal

A deal would see Uber unload its costly Indian operations of Uber Eats to Zomato.

10. Snackpass Snags $21M to Let You Earn Friends Free Takeout – TechCrunch

Andreessen Horowitz partner Andrew Chen led the round. Funding will go towards hiring up with the goal of reaching 100 campuses in 2 years.

11. Bushel Wants to Enhance, Not Disrupt, Grain Trading with $19.5M Series B – AgFunder

Continental Grain led the round. The new funds will be used to create new product lines and complete additional hires to run the new products.

12. Roundup Suit Lawyer Accused of $200M Extortion Plot – CBS

Law enforcement officials have arrested a Virginia lawyer involved in litigation over the health risks of Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer product.

13. A Deal for DuPont’s Food Business Will Create a $45B Giant – CNN

DuPont is creating a new consumer goods giant by merging its food and nutrition business with International Flavors & Fragrances in a $26.2b deal.

14. ProducePay Closes $205M Debt Financing to Launch Aggressive Scaling Campaign – AgFunder

Coventure and TCM Capital led the round. New funding will allow the company to go aggressively after strategic markets like Peru, Chile and Guatemala. Its online marketplace allows farmers to seek higher pricing from distributors.

15. Consumer Sous Vide Startup Nomiku Is Winding Down Operations – TechCrunch

The company raised more than $1.3m over two Kickstarter campaigns. It was able to bring a cost-prohibitive cooking technology down to an affordable price point, only to see the market flooded by competitors.

16. Kraft Heinz Leads $12M Series A for Smart Checkout Startup Zippin – AgFunder

Evolv Ventures led the round. Funding will go towards enabling product innovation, technical team growth and expanding Zippin’s partnership and sales efforts.

17. Amsterdam: Dutch Startup Meatable Is Developing Lab-Grown Pork and Has $10M in New Financing to Do It – TechCrunch

The company has raised $7m from a slew of angel and institutional investors and a $3m grant from the European Commission. The new cash will be used to accelerate the development of its prototype.

18. Silicon Valley’s Psychedelic Wonder Drug Is Almost Here – Fast Company

MindMed could have the key to providing the upsides of psychedelic drugs for both focus and addiction treatment—while cutting out the downsides of tripping. The company has raised $6m thus far.

19. 2018 U.S. Food & Beverage Startup Investment Report

Over $1.45B was invested across 247 deals in 2018, according to the research in our second annual investment report produced in partnership with Ryan Willams.  Check out the report for a deep dive into the investor and investment trends. We also share a complete list of deals and acquisitions.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!