A few years ago, the foodtech sector was dominated by delivery drivers on scooters zipping across cities to get an emergency loaf of bread to your door within the hour — and investors were going mad for it. But with a cost of living crisis and no pandemic lockdowns to contend with, speedy grocery startups have since ground to a halt. Now, foodtech startups across Europe are out to transform the appetites of consumers in the face of climate change threatening some of the staple meals the world knows and loves.
From steaks grown in labs to meatballs made from mushrooms, founders are leveraging technology to create the next generation of food — but there are a fair few hurdles before they can make it to the dinner table.
Similarly, Europe’s star of agritech — which covers technology that makes it easier or more efficient to grow food — was once vertical farming, which attracted half a billion pounds in VC capital in 2020. By September last year, Sifted had identified at least 15 vertical farming companies headquartered in Europe that had gone bankrupt.
Without the hefty funding rounds afforded to the hype of speedy grocery and vertical farming startups, funding across food and agritech has dipped so far in 2024. The first half of the year has seen $598m raised, which is lagging at just 21% of 2023’s total. That can be attributed to the general decline in round size — later stage Series C+ rounds have slid the most in the first half of 2024, down by 47% year-on-year, and pre-Series A rounds have declined by 8.4%.
But while there is less capital flowing around, there are still exciting innovations emerging to be optimistic about.