AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Plant-based company NotCo raises US$235 million to bolster expansion into new categories

Jul 27, 2021Jul 28, 2021 Editor

CHILE — Latin America’s fastest-growing food company NotCo has raised US$235 million to bolster its expansion into new categories in North America. The funds were raised in a Series D funding round led by Tiger Global and participated in by DFJ Growth Fund, ZOMA Lab, athletes Lewis Hamilton and Roger Federer, and musician Questlove. According to a report by FoodBev, the Plant-based food technology company has raised more than US$350 million to date with the recent funding round taking NotCo’s valuation to US$1.5 billion. Launched five years ago, NotCo uses a proprietary artificial intelligence platform to create new…

Foodtech company NotCo closes US$85m new round of funding for expansion to the USA

Sep 10, 2020Sep 10, 2020 Editor

USA – NotCo, the Chilean food technology company making plant-based milk and meat replacements, has confirmed the close of a new US$85 million round of funding to take the company’s products into the U.S.A market. The round was co-led by Future Positive – which has invested in Beyond Meat and Memphis Meat – and consumer-focused private equity firm L Catterton. They join existing investors such as Kaszek Ventures, Indie Bio and Bezos Expeditions which also participated in a US$30 million funding round in the company last year. “We are pleased…

Tomra Food opens regional headquarters for Latin America to enhance support of food processors

Jul 27, 2020Jul 27, 2020 Editor

CHILE – Belgian-based Tomra Food, a manufacture of sensor-based sorting machines and post-harvest solutions for the food industry, has opened new regional headquarters in Chile, in an effort to enhance its support of food processors and packers across Latin America. Located in Santiago, the new 810 square-metre building enables Tomra Food and its two sister companies, Compac and BBC Technologies to strengthen their presence and customer support provided in the region. The two-story building includes a customer experience centre and regional training hub which enables tests and demonstrations to take place.…

Chilean alternative protein startup Protera raises US$5.6m in Series A funding round

Jun 10, 2020Jun 10, 2020 Editor

CHILE – Protera, an AI-driven startup designing and developing new proteins to address critical problems and opportunities in the food and agriculture industry has raised US$5.6 million in a Series A funding round to advance and commercialize its solutions. The funding round was led by Sofinnova Partners, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm with additional participation from Tech venture capital firm SOSV, an existing investor in the company. Protera was founded by Leonardo Álvarez and Francia Navarrete in 2015 in Chile. In 2016 the company joined IndieBio, a…

Neogen acquires Chilean food and animal safety company Magiar Chilena

Mar 31, 2020Mar 31, 2020 Editor

USA – Neogen Corporation has acquired the assets of Chile-based distributor of food, animal, and plant diagnostics products, Magiar Chilena. The American food safety test kits supplier said that it will incorporate the Magiar assets into its wholly owned subsidiary, Neogen Chile SpA, for continued operations in Chile. Combined with Neogen’s January acquisition of similar businesses in Argentina and Uruguay, the company said that the acquisition in Chile completes its physical presence in the important agricultural Southern Cone region of South America. According to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Chile…

Uber to acquire Latin American online grocery delivery service Cornershop

Oct 12, 2019Oct 12, 2019 Editor

CHILE – Uber Technologies has announced that it has agreed to acquire a majority stake in a Latin American online grocery provider Cornershop which has operation in Mexico, Chile and Peru. Details of the agreement were not disclosed, but Uber said the deal is expected to be completed early 2020. The grocery service will maintain its leadership and report to a board with majority Uber representation. Founded in 2015, Cornershop operates online grocery delivery business in Latin American countries and has also expanded its operation to Canada. Oskar Hjertonsson, founder…

Surlat merges with Quillayes to strengthen Emmi’s operations in US

Sep 2, 2019Sep 2, 2019 Editor

USA – Surlat, a Chilean dairy company and subsidiary of Emmi has merged with its competitor Quillayes to strengthen Emmi’s presence in Latin American. The merger has resulted into a new company, Quillayes Surlat, in which Emmi subsidiary Kaiku will hold a majority stake of 51.5 %. Major Swiss milk processor Emmi currently holds 73.5% of the shares in Spanish subsidiary Kaiku. The transaction, which will result in the newly founded company becoming number four in the Chilean dairy market, is subject to approval by the local competition authorities. Details…