In This Issue:
Food Venture Financing Trends
- Former Mondelez and Nielsen executives launched Flora Ventures, an $80m venture capital fund to invest in early-stage food and agriculture startups in Israel and Europe.
- Fractal, a US-based company, is launching a farmland equity financing platform to help in the upcoming wave of generational transfers of farmland.
- US precision fermentation pioneer Perfect Day has agreed to sell its consumer-facing subsidiary The Urgent Company – which includes brands Coolhaus, Brave Robot and its other subsidiaries – to US food tech firm Superlatus for $1.25m.
CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Fund
This week's featured corporate venture and private equity fund is PASCUAL INNOVENTURES.
Pascual Innoventures is an innovation arm of Pascual, one of Spain’s largest food and beverage companies. It creates alliances with startups that anticipate global food companies’ needs and give back to society.
Pascual Innoventures launched MYLKCUBATOR, the first global incubation program for cellular agriculture technologies in the dairy industry.
- The Mylkcubator 2.0 Program aims to support highly innovative startups specializing in the transformation of the food value chain for the production of dairy alternatives using cellular agriculture.
- Each year, most disrupting startups are chosen to join a 6-month hybrid incubation program. The program details are available at https://mylkcubator.com/.
- Five startups from four continents working on the milk of the future are Ergo Bioscience, PEX Biotech, MAOLAC, Nutropy, and Miruku.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Naturally San Diego
Innovation in CPG: Special Session
Tuesday, September 12 | 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PT
Naturally San Diego is excited to participate in Connect SD's Innovation Week. Join them for a special hour with local entrepreneurs who have disrupted our CPG industry for the better.
Check out all of the events happening on Connect Innovation Day.
Speakers:
- Laura Aung, R&D Manager at Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps
- Emily Griffith, CEO of Lil Bucks
- Matt Clifford, CEO of CanDo
Naturally Bay Area
Raising Capital in 2023 (Part 1): Conventional Channels for Equity and Debt Financing
Wednesday, September 13 | 12:00 – 12:45 p.m. PT
Raising capital for emerging food & beverage brands and early-stage personal care companies is more challenging this year than it has ever been. Learn how private equity investors and commercial lenders are assessing how and when to deploy capital in this business environment.
Led by Don Buder, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Naturally Chicago
Working with Super Naturals Retailers
Wednesday, September 13 | 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. PT
This webinar is aimed at emerging brands seeking to get or expand shelf space in grocery stores and chains that are focused on Natural Products.
And what better partner for this webinar than Presence Marketing, the pioneering broker in the Natural Products industry, which has been helping brands get shelf space, prosper and grow for more than 30 years.
Speakers:
- Ayeshah Abuelhiga, CEO/Founder of Mason Dixie Foods
- Andrew Bell, Vice President – Natural at Presence Marketing
- Gina Coccari, National Key Account Manager at Dr. Bronner's
- Dawn Niderno, Director of Sales at Enjoy Life Foods
- Jim Slama, Managing Director of Naturally Network
Naturally New York
From Rookie to MVP: Scaling Your Brand with Athlete Influencers
Thursday, September 14 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. ET
Join Laura Harding of OpenSponsorship and Jennifer Fontaine of Scale Media and 1MD as they unpack the intricacies of forging dynamic and mutually beneficial relationships with athlete influencers. As the health food sector continues to burgeon, setting your brand apart becomes imperative. Athletes, with their authentic reach and genuine lifestyle fit, present a golden opportunity.
Speakers:
- Laura Harding, Account Director of Opensponsorships
- Jennifer Fontaine, Creative Brand Manager at Scale Media
Naturally Bay Area
Rooftop Party at Heffernan Insurance
Thursday, September 14 | 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. PT
Location: Heffernan Insurance Brokers, 44 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California
Get ready to party in style with the Naturally Bay Area community — at the rooftop terrace at Heffernan Insurance in Downtown San Francisco. Enjoy nibbles, drinks, and vibe with the Bay Area's best!