Fresh funds for ag robotics, more startups call it quits, 'gluten-safe' bread, regenerative school meals, and why Ahimsa still believes in alt meat

It's been another big week for ag robotics, with fresh funds for autonomous mushroom harvester 4AG Robotics and TRIC Robotics, which has a fleet of 'bots armed with UV-C light and bug vacuums roaming California's strawberry fields.

On a more depressing note, UK-based vertical farmer Vertical Future was put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace, while Belgian startup FlyBlast, which engineers black soldier flies to produce high-value proteins, filed for bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, with new data from the GFI indicating a sharp drop in funding in alt protein in H1, we asked Matthew Tullman if Ahimsa Companies is throwing good money after bad.

Elsewhere, Jenn Marston talked to the Rockefeller Foundation about how to combine regenerative ag with school meal programs; Elaine Watson met Krokos Bio, a new player in the emerging plant cell culture field; and our Africa correspondent John Njiraini dug into the pan-African genomic initiative AfricaBP.

Finally, what if you could have your "gluten-safe" cake and eat it? We spoke to UK-based Prozymi Biolabs to get the lowdown.

Have a great weekend! Louisa, Elaine, and Jenn

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4AG Robotics raises $29m Series B to expand autonomous mushroom harvesting tech

“This helps us leap from a startup proving our product works to a scale-up manufacturer trying to keep pace with demand,” says Sean O’Connor. Elaine Watson

Automated vertical farming startup Vertical Future up for sale after posting $13m loss

“Like others in the vertical farming sector, we have faced significant headwinds in a difficult capital environment,” says the firm. Jennifer Marston

FlyBlast files for bankruptcy: ‘It became clear that the focus on cultivated meat was going to kill us’

"We had an educated look at a pivot towards biopharma, which had great potential, but not for our team and definitely not on our shoestring budget," says CEO Johan Jacobs. Elaine Watson

Ahimsa Companies pumps $12m into Ohio plant, takes long view on alt meat: ‘We’re on the right side of history’

"The opportunity is still here" for meat alternatives, insists Ahimsa Companies CEO Matthew Tullman. "It just may take longer than people originally expected." Elaine Watson

Feeding kids, funding soil: Inside Rockefeller Foundation’s $100m plan for regenerative school meals

Rockefeller Foundation's goal of feeding 100 million children by 2030 with "increasingly regenerative meals" also aims to reward farmers for sustainable practices. Jennifer Marston

Despite controversy, AfricaBP aims to safeguard the continent’s biodiversity through genomic sequencing

The pan-African initiative is sequencing 105,000 endemic species cutting across plants, animals, fungi, protozoa and other eukaryotes. John Njiraini

Krokos Bio enters plant cell culture with saffron tech as cracks emerge in botanical supply chains

Plant cell culture is "not a replacement, but a complement to conventional agriculture, serving as a buffer so that traditional agricultural supply chains aren’t completely threatened or decimated by one event," says Krokos Bio CEO Jacob Lang. Elaine Watson

The Week in AgriFoodTech: FBN bags $50m for AI farming, Beyond Meat dumps ‘meat,’ Oishii heads to Japan

Plus: Saudi Arabia-based food delivery service Calo lands new funds. Jennifer Marston

Armed with fresh funds, TRIC Robotics plans aggressive fleet expansion across CA’s strawberry fields

Strawberries are among the most heavily sprayed and labor-intensive crops in agriculture. TRIC Robotics is on a mission to change that with a fleet of robots armed with UV-C light and bug vacuums. Elaine Watson

Prozymi Biolabs explores how bakers could have their cake and eat it too with ‘gluten-safe’ products

Prozymi Biolabs is developing enzymes that can degrade the proteins in gluten that trigger an immune response in people with celiac disease. Elaine Watson

From stoicism to psychedelics, farming’s new emotional honesty could be its greatest strength

In a moment of desperation, a Welsh farmer went to South America to take the psychedelic brew ayahuasca... Louisa Burwood-Taylor

More EPG customers share tales of woe in David Protein, Epogee litigation

Snack Owl claims it has been “forced to discontinue” low-calorie kettle chips formulated around EPG and “dispose of $70k worth of stranded materials, including perishables that cannot be repurposed.” Elaine Watson

EXCLUSIVE: Alt meat co Planetarians is shutting down, seeks buyer looking for ‘de-risked, market-validated technology’

According to founder and CEO Aleh Manchuliantsau: "This isn't a liquidation; it's a strategic transition. We're specifically seeking acquirers who will actively utilize and develop this technology further." Elaine Watson

Bonsai Robotics acquires farm-ng to herald new era of ‘AI-first machines that will transform crop management’

Tyler Niday: “Our vision is to be the world leader in autonomy for software for intelligent outdoor machines in adverse environments." Elaine Watson