AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the headlines, we analyse the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily news, our team of award-winning journalists delivers deeper insight on the growing foodtech, agtech and climate tech industries. A multimedia publication, AgFunderNews is a division of AgFunder Inc, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms.
Perfect Day hits Olon with $200m counterclaim, China drone battle heats up, electro-hacking plants, and closing the regen ag funding gap
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The big story this week: Perfect Day, which was hit with a $144m lawsuit from co-manufacturer Olon in April, fired back with a $200m counterclaim accusing Olon of “gross negligence and willful misconduct.” Elsewhere, firms supplying drones from Chinese manufacturer DJI warned that a proposed bill to curb DJI's US activities could have a devastating impact on US farmers. Meanwhile, Impossible Foods had news from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; a new report explored the regenerative ag financing gap; and Danone took issue with a ruling from a New York judge in a lawsuit over 'carbon neutral' claims. Finally, we caught up with Sylvarum on 'electro-hacking' plants, Mez Foods on using mesquite in chocolate alternatives, and 'animal-free' egg co The EVERY Co on securing a deal with multinational food company Grupo Palacios. Have a great weekend! Louisa, Elaine, and Jenn And a big thank you to this week's sponsor: Industry newsIn an 84-page filing, Perfect Day accuses manufacturing partner Olon of breach of contract, fraud, and misappropriation of trade secrets. By Elaine Watson Bill would prevent DJI from getting FCC licenses for future drone models, and potentially lead to the revocation of existing FCC authorizations. By Elaine Watson The PTAB has invalidated the bulk of the claims in an Impossible Foods US patent following a challenge by Motif FoodWorks but declined to review six other patents at issue in their IP dispute. By Elaine Watson World’s #1 Spanish omelet maker Grupo Palacios to formulate with The EVERY Co’s hen-less egg Palacios’ Spanish omelets are sold in a ready-to-eat format in multiple countries. By Elaine Watson Financiers can close the regenerative agriculture funding gap — and unlock $4.5tn in the process The biggest challenge is a lack of confidence that regen ag will fit financiers’ risk and reward standards By Jennifer Marston Plus... new funds from Proterra, Asian Development Bank and others, and lawsuits aplenty. By Jennifer Marston Court misapplied the law in Evian ‘carbon neutral’ ruling, says Danone Waters Regulatory affairs experts are closely watching the case amid growing scrutiny of carbon neutral claims. By Elaine Watson Mez Foods turns to mesquite as skyrocketing cocoa prices drive interest in alternatives “We see the relatively undeveloped nature of the mesquite supply chain as both one of our biggest opportunities as a business and one of our biggest risks,” say cofounders Bob and Ben Schultz. By Elaine Watson Cromatic unveils AI-powered ‘Sourcerer’ vendor search tool for outsourcing R&D in the life sciences AgFunder portfolio co! Cromatic’s cloud-based vendor discovery platform hosts the largest curated database of CROs and CDMOs in the life sciences industry. By Elaine Watson This week's sponsor: Reuters Events... Lessons learned in regenerative agricultureThe future of our planet depends on our ability to transform the way we produce and consume food. As the world grapples with the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality, regenerative agriculture has emerged as a beacon of hope. But scaling up this approach requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders in the food & ag value chain. To meet urgent climate commitments, scalable sustainable supply chain solutions are essential, with regenerative agriculture at the forefront. That is why Reuters Events is bringing together leaders from Bayer, Perdue Agribusiness, and ClimatePartners in a webinar on June 27th to deliver actionable insight into how their partnerships enabled meaningful scaling. Register here! Interviews, opinions and analysisMeet the founder: Deeptech startup Sylvarum on improving food security in Asia by “electro hacking” plants AgFunder portfolio co! Electro-stimulation can improve germination, boost tolerance to stress, and accelerate plant growth, says CEO. By Jennifer Marston Guest article: Unlocking regenerative agriculture’s potential with plant sap analysis Plant sap analysis can harmonize regenerative agriculture with economic prosperity. By guest contributor John Kempf Adapting to a changing environment while supporting growers is the over-arching theme of this year’s Salinas Biological Summit. Sponsored post In case you missed itCRISPR and the new era of precision plant breeding: In conversation with Pairwise CEO Dr. Tom Adams From seedless blackberries and pitless cherries to corn with more kernels per ear... By Elaine Watson Firm seeks to disrupt vanilla flavors market with tech claimed to create more cost-competitive natural vanillin. By Elaine Watson “We had the human genome project,” says Dr. Claus Felby. “This is the planetary genome project….” By Elaine Watson What we're readingSen. Whitehouse: Climate change could crash the financial system The Hill Mcdonald’s fires its AI drive-thru cashiers Morning Brew Milestone achievement for CH4 Global Featuring AgFunder portfolio co CH4 Global! The Fish Site Robots with hoes show farmers possible future of weed control Featuring AgFunder portfolio co Aigen! MPR News ‘I have seen the decline’: pesticides linked to falling UK insect numbers The Guardian Atomo's breakthrough discovery to instantly slash coffee-related deforestation Featuring AgFunder portfolio co Atomo! GlobalNewsWire 10 years in agrifoodtech - a celebration and potted historyAccess our exclusive 83-page e-zine here AgFunder research2024 India AgriFoodTech Investment Report New! Climate Capital: Financing Adaptation Pathways for Smallholder Farmers New! 2024 Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 Asia-Pacific AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 Africa AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 Latam AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 India AgriFoodTech Investment Report Jobs at AgFunder portfolio companiesResearch associate, crop traits GreenLight Biosciences (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) Atomo (Seattle, Washington) Senior mechanical engineer, dispensers Hyphen (San Jose, California) Kula Bio (Natick, Massachusetts) Area sales manager, aquaculture inputs Aquaconnect (Andhra Pradesh, India) Health, safety, and environment manager Intelligent Growth Solutions (Inverkeirthing, Scotland) MycoWorks (Union, South Carolina) ♥️ our newsletter? Forward to a friend or subscribe here |
AgFunderNews
AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the headlines, we analyse the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily news, our team of award-winning journalists delivers deeper insight on the growing foodtech, agtech and climate tech industries. A multimedia publication, AgFunderNews is a division of AgFunder Inc, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms.
A lot of agrifoodtech founders in this dry capital environment are "beating their heads against the wall with the conviction that the wall will break before their heads do,” observes Paul Shapiro at The Better Meat Co. "That said, deals are still getting done, and important technology is still being developed." Many investors got their fingers burned in the heady days of 2020-22 by throwing silly money at this space, points out Magi Richani at molecular farming co Alpine Bio. But the problems...
If you've been following the Chinese drones saga, it finally came to a conclusion of sorts this week as the US Congress passed a defense spending bill that did not, in the end, block the activities of ag spray drone market leader DJI. But there was a catch, reports Elaine Watson... Meanwhile, Brazilian early-stage investor SP Ventures chatted with us about the ups and downs of raising its new fund in a challenging economic environment. Elsewhere, we quizzed food and ag leaders on what tech...
Greetings from London, where the AgFunderNews team has spent the week at the World Agri-Tech and Future Food-Tech summits delving into everything from the disconnect between regulatory and commercial timetables for novel foods and ag biologicals to ongoing questions over how to fund the transition to regenerative agriculture. As for cultivated meat, with private capital increasingly hard to come by, "There's a valley of death we're not going to cross as an industry without a massive infusion...