Food Tech Media Startup Funding, M&A and Partnerships

Ever popular with our community, this monthly series explores the most interesting acquisitions, financings and partnerships within the food tech and media ecosystem. It offers insights on the latest funding and growth trends, and covers everything from digital content and grocery to e-commerce and mobile payments.

8 Smart Kitchen Innovations From CES 2014

Connected kitchen devices took this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) by storm. From smart refrigerators and interoperability apps to futuristic cook tops and even a smart crock pot, its clear that big brands like Whirlpool, Samsung and LG have their eggs in the smart kitchen basket.

2014 Food Trends: Health-Conscious, Female-Focused & Social

We examine Phil Lempert’s food industry foresights for 2014 to see how they relate to food tech, covering trends like healthy snacking, alternative proteins and consumer demand for greater transparency when it comes to our food.

Food & Ag Investment Sources Explode in 2013

From new investment funds, to accelerator programs, to crowdfunding platforms, 26 new private food and agriculture funding sources launched 2013. Learn more about them in this easy-to-reference list, and make sure to stay tuned for our 2014 funding sources list coming soon.

2013 Food Tech Media Funding & Acquisition Trends Report

Our annual report looks at the financing and acquisition trends in the Food Tech & Media ecosystem. Increasing deal activity and deal sizes resulted in $1.6b of investment in 2013 and $2.8b over two years.

How Instacart Is Growing Its Grocery Delivery by 15-20% A Week

Unlike its competitors, which have high overhead costs, the 2-year old startup dodged costly infrastructure investments by partnering with major retailers like Whole Foods and Costco. In this startup profile, we dive into Instacart’s business model, growth and plans for expansion. 

#OMGFoodTech: The Food Startup Fundraising Frenzy

Food delivery startups pulled in massive investment in 2014. Last Spring alone, a whopping $177 million (sum of investments in article) was pumped into startups including Munchery, Sprig, Kitchensurfing and Blue Apron.

How Restaurant Delivery Startup Caviar Is Growing By 20% A Month

We chat with Caviar co-founder Jason Wang (before the startup was acquired by Square) about its business model and fundraising strategy and his words of wisdom for fellow food entrepreneurs.

How Plated Used Data to Raise Its $5M Series A

Co-founder and co-CEO Nick Taranto chats about his company’s model and mission in this video from our “Business of Meal Kit Subscriptions” Meetup. We also dive into Plated’s fundraising process and plans for growth in the Q&A that follows.

Don’t miss these great resources…

These articles provide a in-depth look at some of the innovative business models we’ve profiled this year. Many of them also fall under the game-changing food trends we flagged for 2015.

• Forage’s Meal-Kit Business Model & Tips For Fundraising
• How Branding Helped Hampton Creek Get Into 20K Stores in Less Than 1 Year
• RyteBytes on Prioritizing Branding & Learning from Failure
• Local Food Lab Pivots, Launches Network for World-wide Local Food Movement
• How Payment Startup Swipely Uses Data to Help Restaurants Grow Sales
• Look & Cook Partners With Amazon Fire TV: Aims To Be The Digital Food Network
• Culinary Agents Brings Hospitality Job Search into the 21st Century
• Food Delivery Startups Raise $486M Over Last Year: Funding Hits 5 Year High