Hi — Alex here. This week the biggest European investors and best startups are gathering at F&A Next, Netherlands.

We got 20 of them to tell us exactly what they're looking for — check sizes, stages, geographic mandates, and in their own words what they want to find. This is primary intel you won't find anywhere else. Read the full list here.

Ilkka here. We are closing in on the 300th edition of FoodTech Weekly. How should we celebrate? Many of you have followed us for many years, so for sure we should do something special!

This week, we have another exciting conversation to share with you. Vala Valthorsdottir is the CEO of Aurora Abalone, an Icelandic abalone farming company. Don’t worry, we also had to double-check what abalone actually is. Check out the interview below.

This week's rundown:

🍓 Oishii bags $150M Series C for automated vertical indoor strawberry farms
🍺 Alcolase lands €1.5M; breaks down alcohol in the stomach before absorption
🏃🏻 Ilkka’s Marmalade Marathon

Today’s newsletter was sent to {{active_subscriber_count}} subscribers. Welcome to FoodTech Weekly.

This week, we’re excited to share an interview with Vala Valthorsdottir, the CEO of Aurora Abalone. Aurora Abalone is an Icelandic on-shore abalone farming company doing some pretty extraordinary things. The company has recently barely survived massive lava flows (welcome to Iceland!), and is now looking to scale its operations. Don’t miss the full interview — we promise cool photos too.

🇺🇸 USA — Oishii raises $150M Series C [Vertical Farming]
Indoor “Smart Farm” model integrates advanced technology with traditional Japanese farming methods to produce pesticide-free, non-GMO strawberries year-round.
Lead: Sparx Asset Management
Follows: Nomura Real Estate Development, Misumi, Mizuho Bank

🇺🇸 USA — Nourish raises $100M Series C [HealthTech]
Insurance-covered virtual nutrition counselling platform riding tailwinds from GLP-1 adoption as insurers push lifestyle intervention alongside medication.
Lead: Menlo Ventures
Follows: Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, JPMorganChase Growth Equity

🇺🇸 USA — Brami raises $33M Series B [CPG]
Fastest-growing pasta brand in the US, built on a lupini bean platform, expanding into 4,000+ retail doors including Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and Costco.
Lead: VMG Partners
Follows: N/A

🇬🇧 U.K. — Resurrect Bio raises $10.3M Series A [AgTech]
AI-powered technology restoring crops' natural genetic defences against diseases and pests, spun out of the University of Norwich.
Lead: Corteva Catalyst
Follows: Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, Future Planet Capital, SynBioVen, AgFunder

🇺🇸 USA — Melazyme raises $2M Seed [Precision Fermentation]
Precision fermentation platform producing melanin (a versatile biopolymer) and functional sweet proteins for cosmetics, advanced materials, and food.
Lead: SeaX Ventures
Follows: Stellaris Venture Partners, Plug and Play Ventures

🇧🇪 Belgium — B-COS raises €1M ($1.16M) [AgTech]
Cost efficient biological crop protection products using precision fermentation.
Lead: Agri Investment Fund (AIF), Boerenbond, VP Capital
Follows: VLAIO (The Flemish Agency for Innovation & Entrepreneurship)

🇩🇰 Denmark — Alcolase raises €1.5M (~$1.7M) [BioTech]
Enzyme-based technology that breaks down alcohol in the stomach before absorption, targeting 540 million people in East Asia living with ALDH2 deficiency.
Lead: Ada Ventures, Delphinus Venture Capital, Antler, Manigoff Invest
Follows: N/A

🇬🇧 U.K. — Triple Bio raises €1.5M (~$1.7M) [Animal Health]
Lipid-based feed additive platform (RumeNRG) designed to increase milk yield and reduce enteric methane emissions in cattle, emerging from stealth as a Marble Climate Studio spinout.
Lead: Nucleus Capital, Positron Ventures, Climate Club
Follows: N/A

🇺🇸 USA — Banagua raises $5.5M [CPG]
Nashville-founded banana water brand, already in 3,500+ doors at Sprouts, Kroger, and Albertsons, is betting the category follows the coconut water playbook.
Lead: Hingham Growth Partners
Follows: N/A

🇺🇸 USA — Harken raises undisclosed sum in Seed [CPG]
Plant-based chocolate brand making date-sweetened, high-fiber candy bars.
Lead: Taste Tomorrow Ventures
Follows: Selva, GreatPoint Ventures

This week, Alex Shandrovsky met with Tomas Turner, CEO and Co-Founder of Cosaic.

“Cosaic is a biomass fermentation startup producing highly functional yeast-based ingredients to replace additives, milk, and eggs. Tomas walks us through the grueling realities of closing a $6M round led by DSM-Firmenich’s CVC arm. We discuss why Corporate VC due diligence is fundamentally different—and far more rigorous on IP and Tech—than standard VC vetting. Tomas also opens up his fundraising pipeline, revealing the raw math required to close a multi-million dollar Seed round today: 250 targets, 60+ initial meetings, and countless rejections just to secure three new investors.”

🎧 Listen to the conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
🎥 Watch the conversation on YouTube.

🙌 💐: A huge thank you to the co-hosts who made the Investment Climate Dinner in Amsterdam possible — Tomas Turner (Cosaic), Daria Reisch (Sentia Nova), and Armaan Dhanda (Anomaly Bio).

Bringing leading founders together over great food and great conversation. No investors allowed.

If you love hosting dinners and want to bring one to life as a side event around a major conference — we'd love to support you.

📊 Funding for European AgriFoodtech startups dropped (again) by 25% between 2024 and 2025, bringing the industry back to the pre-hype levels, DigitalFoodLab reports.

🍎 Apeel Sciences, which does coating of fruits and vegetables to keep them fresh longer, ‘was an American success story — until MAHA influencers sank it.’

🏭 Pentasweet of Lithuania has begun constructing Europe’s first dedicated sweet protein factory (precision-fermented brazzein, to be precise), backed by €65M in investment (h/t FoodHack).

⚖️ A German court has ruled that Mondelēz, makers of Milka chocolate, has cheated consumers by cutting the bar’s size, while keeping the wrapper the same.

🍫 Elsewhere in the world of chocolate, California Cultured and UC Davis have received almost $2.8M in government grants to cut the costs of cell-cultured chocolate.

🥀 Cell-cultured fat startup Cultimate Foods of Germany has filed for bankruptcy.

🏷️ Maryland has banned so-called ‘dynamic pricing’ in grocery stores (where shoppers can be charged a higher price based on their individual data).

🐕 Australian pet treat producer Wagalot has launched DOGood, a dog food range made from unsold fruits and vegetables (h/t FoodHack).

👨🏻‍💻 Cecilia Toth Kosa is an EU policy and public affairs expert with many years of experience from the European Commission in food, agriculture, sustainability and trade policy. She combines deep expertise in EU lobbying, strategic communication and stakeholder engagement with strong networks in Brussels, Sweden, Hungary and across Europe. Fluent in five languages, Cecilia is open to both project-based collaborations and permanent opportunities in lobbying, policy, public affairs and strategic advisory roles. Based in Sweden but open to hybrid and remote opportunities as well. Contact via LinkedIn or email.

💡 Caroline Cotto has written a fantastic guide, So You Want to Work in Food?, with tons of helpful resources (like job boards, newsletters, communities, fellowships, events, and so much more).

💰 AGRInnova II is an open call funding pilot projects between Israeli climate-smart agriculture technology providers and agribusinesses in Latin America and the Caribbean. Up to 10 partnerships will be selected, with IDB Invest covering 80% of pilot costs, with funding of up to $150K per pilot. Priority deadline June 15, final deadline July 31, 2026. More details here.

🏃🏼‍♂️ Ilkka here. I ran my first marathon ever last Saturday. It went great, partly because of the carb loading going well. Many runners eat these yucky and super-sweet gels to keep going, but I went for Jollos marmalades. They were originally developed by an endurance athlete with a sensitive stomach. These marmalades taste great, but most importantly, keep you going. This is not an ad! I am just very happy with the product.

🤨 Pizza Hut Japan has introduced a “drinkable” cheese curry pizza. We’re not convinced.

🐶 Siesta Dog TV is creating videos for dogs left at home while their pet parents go to work (h/t Niklas Laninge).

📉 Business schools are slashing MBA tuition by up to 50%, as students increasingly focus on boosting their AI skills.

🥛 Milk fragrance is a thing.

👩‍🚀 What to do with space poo? When 4 astronauts go to Mars they’ll generate 3-4 tons of waste that has to be stored safely for fifty years. NASA might roast the fecal bags to 200-250C, converting the waste to odorless char. Space travel does seem glamorous.

We love you.
Ilkka and Alex

- - -

🎵 This issue was produced while Illka was probably listening to some obscure heavy metal band.

By Ilkka Taponen and Alex Shandrovsky.
Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here.

Disclosures | Boring disclaimer