Hi there,

Steve here. Small seed rounds defined what was a lighter week in FoodTech funding. Perhaps because we’re all just consumed by the first World Cup to be hosted (partially) in my home country.

An unexpectedly entertaining element of the tournament has been the commentary on the food culture of our American co-hosts, as World Cup fans from around the globe share their first U.S. culinary experiences. We end today’s newsletter with a few highlights.

This week's rundown:

🧬 Rainbow Crops raises $11.25M as EU updates gene editing rules
💰 Anterra raises a milestone $100M of its Fund III for food and agriculture.
⚽ Not every World Cup food reaction going viral is what it seems

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🇧🇪 Belgium — Rainbow Crops raises €9.7M (~$11.25M) [Crop Science]
Belgian startup using AI and multiplex gene editing to stack complex, climate-resilient traits into corn and other staple crops. The round comes the same week the EU Parliament passed its New Genomic Techniques regulation, creating streamlined approvals for gene-edited plants for the first time. Lead: LIFTT EuroInvest (EIB × LIFTT) Follows: AIF, PINC (Paulig), VIB, Maia Ventures, Corteva Catalyst

🇩🇪 Germany — Seqana raises €3.2M (~$3.5M) [AgTech]
Berlin's Seqana turns soil organic carbon from into a measurable asset through satellite imagery plus ML to quantify soil health across millions of hectares for the likes of Danone, Klim, and Bayer. This round extends its MRV tooling beyond carbon into broader soil-health indicators. Lead: Pymwymic Follows: HTGF, Counteract

🇮🇪 Ireland — Hexis raises €1.85M (~$2.1M) [Nutrition]
Dublin's Hexis is building the nutrition operating system for athletes — its Carb Coding system turns training data into personalized fueling, already trusted by Olympic and F1 teams. The seed funds a push from elite sport into a direct-to-consumer launch later this year. Lead: APEX Capital Follows: Enterprise Ireland, ScaleX

🇨🇦 Canada — Picketa Systems raises CAD $2.1M (~$1.5M) [AgTech]
Oversubscribed seed round will scale Picketa’s LENS device, which reads every essential macro- and micronutrient in a leaf in under a minute, feeding into its crop-management platform for real-time analysis. Lead: Tall Grass Ventures Follows: BDC Seed Fund, Verdex Capital, Skull Diamond & Heart Capital (+ returning NBIF, Koan Capital, East Valley Ventures)

🇬🇧 UK — Cordon Technologies raises £1M (~$1.3M) [AgTech]
UK startup commercializing Loop, a precision-spraying system that adjusts treatment in real time so farmers cut pesticide and fertilizer use. Lead: British Design Fund Follows: N/A

🇬🇧 UK — Rem3dy Health raises £14M (~$18.7M) [Nutrition]
Birmingham's Rem3dy (maker of Nourished, the 3D-printed personalized vitamin gummies) raises £14M at an £84M valuation via SAFE after growing revenue 61% to £10.2M in 2025. Lead: Suntory, Estrella Galicia, Apollo Hospitals, UPSA (strategic) Follows: Future Planet Capital Regional

🇫🇮 Finland — Solar Foods receives €77.8M (~$90.5M) [Precision Fermentation]
Business Finland's grant and loan package (€39.6M grant, €38.1M R&D loan) to fund construction and commissioning of Factory 02, Solar Foods' next production facility for Solein, the brand’s flagship all-purpose fermented protein ingredient. Lead: Business Finland Follows: N/A

🇳🇱 Netherlands — Vivici raises €12.5M (~$14.4M) [Precision Fermentation]
Vivici has FDA GRAS status, signed supply agreements, and a production deal in Indiana already in motion, and this EIC Accelerator funding (€2.5M grant plus €10M equity) extends that momentum to scale precision-fermented dairy protein.
Lead: European Innovation Council
Follows: N/A

This week, Alex Shandrovsky chatted with Jaap Zijlstra, COO of Navus, a Dutch family office-backed venture firm with roughly 25 portfolio companies. They cover:

💰 How Navus’ patient family office approach suits HardTech better than traditional VC timelines.
🌱 Why the current agri-food investment climate isn't a sign of failure, but a maturation phase.
⚙️ Why Navus prioritizes process technology and hardware-enabled IP over pure-software plays.

Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube.

🤖 Anterra Capital closed $100M of a targeted $200M Fund III, a milestone raise in a market where AgriFoodTech investment has dropped 69% since 2021. The firm is focusing on AI platforms and animal health and sustainability, betting that improving the existing meat industry offers more leverage than trying to replace it with alternatives.

🇪🇺 The European Investment Fund announced a €25 million anchor investment into Yield Lab Europe Fund 2, a new venture capital fund devoted to accelerating sustainable ag, with 30% of the fund to be deployed specifically in Ireland.

🇳🇱 Dutch impact investor Pymwymic acquired Triodos Investment Management's food-focused growth fund, rebranding it as the Pymwymic Healthy Food Systems Growth Impact Fund III.

🇫🇷 SWAP Food (formerly Umiami), the Paris-based whole-cut alt meat company, entered judicial liquidation and ceased operations after raising more than €100M ($116M) since 2020.

🪲 UK insect farming startup FlyBox repositions away from alternative protein toward waste management — treating larvae as biological digesters to process organic waste, with protein as a byproduct. CEO Larry Kotch says it's the only model that works.

🍄 The Protein Brewery's Fermotein mycoprotein becomes the first novel mycelium ingredient authorized for sale in the EU under the Novel Food Regulation, six years after filing.

☕ Nestlé and Ivory Coast's national agricultural research centre officially registered six climate-resilient robusta coffee varieties that nearly double yields, all while improving the flavour of the historically inferior bean.

🧇 A German World Cup fan's first Waffle House trip at 1am went viral. The review: "10/10, will be coming back." Cultural diplomacy at its finest.

⚽ World Cup venue food prices are leaving fans floored. Waffle House wins every time every time over a $26 stadium quesadilla.

🧊Other “fascinating cultural discoveries” documented: free ice, salsa, refill stations, 24-hour retail, and general friendliness.

🎭 Not all these food-loving tourists are what they seem, however.

🎉 Finally, congrats to CTVC, who also just hit issue #300 of their excellent climate tech VC newsletter!

We love you.
Steve, Ilkka, and Alex

- - -

🎵 This issue was produced while listening to London Calling by the Clash

By Steve Edgerton, Ilkka Taponen and Alex Shandrovsky.
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Disclosures | Boring disclaimer