Hi there, Ilkka here. We have some more writer updates for you. Exactly one year ago, I joined Daniel here and it has been a great experience diving deep in the world of FoodTech. But now, right after Daniel, I am also starting at a new job that requires my full attention. I will move to the backseat here and support FTW in a minor role moving forward. Let’s stay in touch on Linkedin. I will update my job there next week.

Alex here. Ilkka, thank you so much for everything you have brought to the team over the last year — your interviews, your writing, and your love for hard Finnish rock. We appreciate you.

Next week is Issue 300, and with that milestone, we will be introducing a new Editor-in-Chief for FTW. Many surprises are coming as we expand from a newsletter into a global community built to help agrifoodtech founders build, scale, and exit their businesses.

This week's rundown:

🌿 Phytolon raises $23.6M to scale its fermentation-derived food dyes
🍄 Infinite Roots acquires Bosque Foods
🫘 The “leguminati” are winning

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🇮🇱 Israel — Phytolon raises $23.6M [Precision Fermentation]
The substantial Series B raise will fund commercialization of Phytolon’s fermentation-derived beetroot red (an FDA-approved natural alternative to synthetic dyes) starting with the US market. This comes right as Red 40, present in 36,000 US food products, is facing its MAHA-driven reckoning.
Lead: Undisclosed strategic investor
Follows: Millennium Foodtech, NextGen Nutrition, Colorcon Ventures, Yossi Ackerman

🇩🇪 Germany — Pacifico Biolabs raises €7M ($8.1M) [Alternative Protein]
German beer sales fell a record 6% in 2025, leaving brewery fermentation tanks sitting idle. Pacifico is leveraging that excess capacity to grow mycelium protein — cutting capex by 95%. This raise will fund scale-up to 200 tonnes/month and commercial launches of mycelium chicken products across DACH and the Nordics by end of year.
Lead: N/A
Follows: Stray Dog Capital, TGFS, Sprout & About Ventures, Simon Capital, FoodLabs

🇫🇷 France — Dealinka raises €6.5M (~$7.2M) [Circular Economy]
The raise funds European expansion for Dealinka’s platform that matches companies sitting on surplus inventory with charities and reuse networks — processing 45,000 pallets and €31M in donated goods in 2025 alone.
Lead: Re-Sources
Follows: N/A

🇺🇸 USA — B-Sides raises $500K [CPG]
Seed funding to expand retail distribution for a snack puff brand built on upcycled oat flour from oat milk production and corn grits from milling, targeting approximately 1,500 Northeast retailers.
Lead: Cap Ventures 8182
Follows: N/A

🇺🇸 USA — Big Idea Ventures invests $1M across 5 startups [Food Biotech]
Saku Biosciences (US), RheaPlant (US), XiA'H (Mexico), BioClé (Argentina/US), and CryoVera (France) each received $200K through Global Food Innovation Fund II alongside access to BIV's accelerator network and corporate partners.
Lead: Big Idea Ventures
Follows: N/A

🇮🇳 India — StrainX Bioworks raises $13M [Precision Fermentation]
Bhopal-based precision fermentation startup emerges from stealth with a full-stack platform for high-value food ingredients and a bold geographic thesis. Cofounder Akshay Mittal sees India as the future “fermentation capital of the world."
Leads: Prime Venture Partners, Leo Capital
Follows: Good Startup, Sparrow Capital, Sun Icon Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, WindT (IIT Delhi) Angels

🇮🇱 Israel — Oshi raises $3M [Alternative Protein]
Plant-based seafood brand secured a strategic investment from one of Latin America's largest conventional seafood manufacturers, ahead of a planned nationwide US retail expansion.
Lead: Frumar
Follows: N/A

This week, Alex Shandrovsky had conversations with:

🐂 Dan Bull, CEO of Scannabull, on non-dilutive government hacks, dodging the OpenAI threat, and the $1.1M pre-seed pitch. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

📈 Jonas von den Driesch, Investor at SHIFT Invest, on the €8M Food Forecast Series A and why European VCs run due diligence post-term sheet. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

🎥 You can catch both conversations on YouTube as well.

🍄 Infinite Roots acquired Bosque Foods, bringing together complementary fermentation approaches, process datasets, and whole-cut IP as the company builds toward industrial-scale mycelium production.

🔬 Germany formally added alternative proteins to its High-Tech Agenda, with plans to establish a national innovation hub for cell cultivation and precision fermentation by 2027.

🌱 Protein Industries Canada committed $4.9M of a $15.1M project to scale NS/TX Industries' whole-cut plant-based beef, pork, and seafood platform, using Canadian-sourced pea, fava, and soy proteins.

♻️ Windfall Bio, a California startup converting waste methane into organic fertilizer, has ceased operations.

🌿 RheaPlant is building food-grade plant cell culture infrastructure to unlock botanicals production that has long been priced out of everything but pharmaceuticals.

💰 In addition to their strategic raise, Oshi has opened a community investment round on WeFunder — minimum $250, same terms as their strategic investor.

💡 Sun Bear Biofuture, a UK biotech making fermentation-derived cocoa butter and palm oil alternatives, just completed its first pilot plant run at £25,000, less than 10% of the typical setup cost.

🫘 The leguminati are winning: Bean-fluencers, BeanTok, a 32,000-person waitlist for an heirloom bean club. Everyone is full of beans.

🐣 What gets 3D printed first, the chicken or the egg? Colossal Biosciences claims it’s developed a “fully artificial” chicken egg.

🖤 Japanese snack brand Calbee is going black-and-white with their packaging, but not entirely by choice.

🚀 Wheat, sorghum, mushrooms, insects, 3D-printed food. Welcome to the Space Farm.

🍸 The “mini Martini” is having a major moment.

We love you.
Ilkka and Alex

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🎵 This issue was produced while Ilkka listened to Crowns of Divinity by Chamber of Unlight

By Ilkka Taponen and Alex Shandrovsky.
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