Image Credit:  Meati Foods

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.

VC funding for the food and beverage industry is facing a steep decline. Over the past year, both the amount of money raised and the number of deals have significantly dropped compared to the previous year, the impact of which is being felt deeply by all startups. According to Fooddive and Pitchbook Data: “In the first quarter of 2023, there were 1,030 transactions that raised roughly $1 billion, compared to 1,349 deals totaling $1.3 billion in the first three months of 2022. The fourth quarter of 2022 saw an especially profound drop, with 785 deals raising $800 million. At the same time in 2021, 2,316 deals raised $2.3 billion.”

In other news, we’ve wrapped the first season of our podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast, and be sure to subscribe and share!

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1. VC Funding for Food and Beverage Plunging Amid Challenging Environment – Food Dive

During the last four quarters, the amount of money raised and the number of deals have fallen significantly compared to the same period the year before.

2. Why Great Jones, the Millennial Cool-Kid Cookware Brand, Sold Itself to a Conglomerate – Fast Company

Known for its chic colors, the direct-to-consumer home goods company is getting acquired by the conglomerate Meyer. CEO Sierra Tishgart explains why.

3. HackCapital Launches As a Game-Changing Platform for Climate Finance – Green Queen

HackCapital is positioning itself as a groundbreaking investment platform dedicated to revolutionizing financing for private companies focused on impact planetary solutions.

4. Big Idea Ventures Raises Initial Funds for $75M New Protein Fund II – Vegconomist

Big Idea Ventures claims to be the first global fund dedicated to the development and expansion of alt proteins, as well as the most active investor in the food tech category.

5. Emerging Trends in Plant-Based Market: Alt Seafood & South Korea Poised for Success As Industry Approaches $105B – Vegconomist

A new report regarding global plant-based food and beverages states its market value will hit $104.7b by 2032, citing vegan seafood as an area of increased relevance.

6. The Meat Paradox – The Atlantic

Vegetarianism is more popular than ever—but so is meat consumption. How can this be?

7. Indonesia: Aquatech Startup eFishery Raises $108m Series D to Reach Unicorn Status – AFN

UAE-based G42 Global Expansion Fund (42xFund) led the round with participation from SoftBank Vision Fund II and private equity firm Northstar Group.

8. Selva Ventures to Invest $34M Fund II in Health, Wellness-Focused Brands – TechCrunch

Selva Ventures invests in companies at the seed and Series A stages and assists with resources across finance, operations and retail partnerships.

9. The Truth About ‘Local’ Food in US Supermarkets: ‘It’s a Marketing Gimmick’ – The Guardian

The term doesn’t mean that much any more, and there are other, more important factors to consider when selecting food.

10. Douxmatok Takes Sweet Journey to Become Incredo After Securing $30M – TechCrunch

Incredo’s technology binds real cane or beet sugar with trace amounts of a natural carrier that is able to reduce the amount of sugar in foods by between 30% and 50%.

11. Texas Governor Signs New Labeling Law for Plant-Based and Cultivated Meat – Food Dive

Starting Sept 1, companies making items that do not come from animals will be required to explicitly label them.