GLOBAL – The food industry continues to be faced with serious headwinds from rising inflation to supply chain constraints and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Despite this, food startups spread across the globe continue to attract millions of dollars in funding to support their growth operations.

The notable ones include Mycelium-based meat analog maker Meati Foods, Australian-based alternative meat stratup All G Foods, and American beverage brand Just Ice Tea.

Meati nets $150M investment

To start us off is American mycelium-based meat analog maker Meati Foods which recently closed a US$150 million Series C funding round to help expand its production and accessibility.

The round, which more than doubles the total amount Meati has raised since its founding five years ago, was led by Revolution Growth.

It also included participation from both new and old investors namely, Cultivate Next, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s new venture fund, and Grosvenor Food & Ag Tech.

The company officially launched products under the Eat Meati brand at retail earlier this week, even as it aspires to become the U.S. market share leader in plant-based meat by 2025.

 with its Classic Cutlet and Crispy Cutlet chicken analogs and its Classic Steak at three Colorado locations of Sprouts Farmers Market.

This money will help it get closer to that goal. Some of these funds will go toward completing Meati’s under-construction “Mega Ranch.”

According to Food Dive, the ranch is a more than 100,000-square-foot production facility in Colorado that will produce more than 45 million pounds of product each year.

All G Foods Raises US$25 Million In a Series A

Across the Pacific Ocean is Australia -based alternative meat and milk company All G which raised US$25 million in a Series A led by U.K.-based Agronomics.

 Early investors included the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, Ellerston capital, Triple Star Capital, founders of Our Innovation fund and Monash Capital David Shein and Geoff Levi.

 Peter Andrews, CEO of Andrews Meats; Rob Lederer, ex Primo Meats; and global flavor company Oppenheimer also participated in funding round which brings All G’s capital to more than $40 million.

All G Foods plans to use the funding to accelerate the production of its unique approach to milk alternatives that includes precision fermentation and a spin-off plant-based meat brand, Buds.

Eat the Change raises US$14.5M to help launch Just Ice Tea

Meanwhile, Maryland-based snack company Eat the Change has raised US$14.5 million to help it launch its Just Ice Tea beverage in the US market.

Collaborative Fund committed US$6.5 million and S2G Ventures US$3.25 million, according to a report by Food Dive.

The remaining money, according to the report, is coming from a combination of Honest tea stakeholders like co-founder Barry Nalebuff, distributors and suppliers.

The funding is being used to set up and scale production and commit to major purchases of bottles, caps, tea and ingredients.

The brand , championed by Honest Tea founder Seth Goldman, will launch in the Washington, D.C., area in September and nationally in October.

Its launch comes just four months after Coca-Cola announced it would be discontinuing Honest tea later in 2022, leaving a void in the market for an organic, Fair Trade Certified and less-sweet beverage.

Deliveristo has raised €7 million in fresh funding

Crossing over to Europe, e B2B food delivery platform Deliveristo has raised €7 million in fresh funding to support its consolidation in the Italian market.

That start up also plans to use the funds to drive its expansion campaign in Europe and launch of new services, from data driven marketing to payments services aimed at customers and suppliers.

launched in 2019, the Deliveristo app currently lists over 60,000 items from over 350 Italian suppliers selling their products to over 1,300 subscribers.

Subscribers to platform are diverse and include chefs, restaurants, shops and new delivery only catering channels such as dark, ghost or cloud kitchen.

Valor Siren Ventures closes $595 million fund

Closing our round up this week is Valor Siren Ventures which completed its oversubscribed fundraise for Valor Siren Ventures II LP, backed by existing anchor investors Starbucks Corp. and Nestle SA.

 The fund closed on US$595 million, surpassing its US$400 million target, and will build on the success and strategy of Valor Siren Ventures I LP.

The fund is now well oiled to continue its support for early-stage companies, entrepreneurs and founders in food, food technology, retail, retail technology and sustainability within food and retail markets.

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