Food Entrepreneur

GoodSAM, PBC Foods has raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Alive Ventures and Desert Bloom. The round brings the regenerative food company’s total funds to $10.5 million. "This funding gives us the resources to scale not just in numbers, but in a way that meaningfully changes lives, communities and economic realities," said Heather K. Terry, CEO and founder of GoodSam. "We are proving that a regenerative business model isn’t just viable — it’s thriving." Read more ???? https://ow.ly/G1BB50Vmj8j #foodentrepreneur #funding #venturecapital #regenerativeag

Actual Veggies has raised $7 million in a Series A funding round led. The startup was founded in 2020 and manufactures plant-based burgers and products. "We set out to create the most delicious and satisfying veggie burgers ever made and our tremendous growth has validated this effort," said Hailey Swartz, co-founder of Actual Veggies. "We look forward to expanding our partnerships, innovative products, and retail distribution with our new partners." Read more ???? https://ow.ly/eARQ50ViatR #foodentrepreneur #startup #venturecapital #plantbased

Plant-based investor Ahimsa Companies has acquired Blackbird Foods, a startup producing plant-based frozen pizzas, seitan and wings. "Ahimsa Companies shares our passion for plant-based innovation and animal-free food production," said Emanuel Storch, co-founder of Blackbird Foods. "Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in plant-based cuisine while maintaining the quality and authenticity our customers love." Read more ???? https://ow.ly/spkx50VgBjX #foodentrepreneur #acquisition #frozenfoods #plantbased

Spore.Bio has raised $23 million in a Series A funding round. The AI-based technology startup said it plans to now focus on scaling up its industrialization process and is preparing for commercialization before the end of the year. "AI is nice for chatbots and LLMs, but some amazing, niche applications are paving the way of deep changes in certain industries, especially science-related industries," said Amine Raji, chief executive officer and co-founder of the company. "We are proud of being an example of it, while having developed in only one year our proprietary AI-based technology that manages to do what existing technologies couldn’t for two centuries." Read more ?? https://ow.ly/8fim50VcNPf #foodentrepreneur #funding #venturecapital #AI

Core Home is making its debut in the food and beverage industry with the acquisition of Asian boba tea brand BUBLUV. "This acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for Bubluv," Chen said. "With Core Home’s talented cross-functional team, retailer network, and shared commitment to innovation, Bubluv will continue to thrive and reach its full potential." Read more ???? https://ow.ly/lKz550Vb9AF #foodentrepreneur #startup #beverages #acquisition

Brandjectory and Jeff Church are coming together in two virtual pitch slams. The pitch slams are for the graduating cohort of Church’s DreamMakers Accelerator Program. Thirteen brands in the DreamMakers cohort will participate in the two pitch events that offer a total of $20,000 in cash prizes. Read more ?? https://ow.ly/oP8c50V9vvn #foodentrepreneur #startup #emergingbrands #accelerator

MeliBio has won Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc.’s inaugural Next Generation Taste & Texture Technologies pitch competition. The event had companies undergo a five minute presentation and two minutes of questions from judges, and participants were scored based on originality, profitability and scalability. Read more ???? https://ow.ly/5UEe50V5szR #foodentrepreneur #startup #pitch #competition

PlantBaby has closed its series seed equity financing round to expand distribution and continue its R&D efforts in the plant-based milk categories and beyond. The series seed equity financing round gives the startup a valuation of $20 million. Read more ?? https://ow.ly/mEOf50V4r4t #foodentrepreneur #startup #venturecapital #financing

Keychain is expanding its artificial intelligence platform capabilities beyond search and discovery to now include packaging and ingredients options. The new offerings come as the company received an additional $5 million in funding from Bright Pixel Capital. "Since Keychain launched last year, we’ve been focused on bringing much needed transparency to the United States’ consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturing ecosystem," said Oisin Hanrahan, co-founder and CEO of Keychain. "At the same time, we’ve been looking into how we can bring our capabilities to other geographies, and the support of Bright Pixel is a huge step in that direction." Read more ?? https://ow.ly/9czf50V2S9h #foodentrepreneur #venturecapital #AI

Better-for-you soda company OLIPOP PBC has closed a $50 million Series C funding round. The funding round was led by J.P. Morgan Private Capital’s Growth Equity Partners and brings the company's valuation to $1.85 billion. "Olipop is one of the fastest growing beverage companies to reach this scale and is redefining the category by offering a premium alternative that resonates with today’s health-conscious consumer," said Christopher Dawe, managing partner of J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners. Read more ???? https://ow.ly/5auk50V0m12