During the current climate foodtech offers a number of new opportunities across the food supply chain, including in logistics and transportation, manufacturing and food production and in new innovative products for consumers to shop. Did you know that the Israeli foodtech ecosystem is the second most renowned in the world? Throughout Covid it has been offering us a strong suit of possible solutions to the challenges we now face as a food industry, thanks to the number of disruptive startups it boasts. 

The foundation of Israeli foodtech is supported by three main pillars:

1. For the past thirty years Israel has been a hub for innovation and new startups.
   
2. It boasts a very strong Agrifood innovation background. Being a geo-political island Israel has always needed to ensure it had all the necessary expertise for a self-sufficient food system.
3. Cultural nature. Israeli food entrepreneurs are very agile and solve big pain points in the food system with deliverable solutions.

Israel is cooking up a storm and making a name for itself as a powerhouse for innovation, and if you need any convincing just look at Israel’s leading food company, the Strauss-Group, the incubator The Kitchen; and the support from the Israeli government through the Innovation Authority. 

Israel FoodTech today

Packaging

TIPA, the creator of compostable packages raised a Series C round of $25 million. 

Meat and dairy alternatives

In the area of cultivated meat Aleph Farms bagged $12 million Series A funding to expand its cultivated meat while Future Meat Technologies secured itself $14 million to help take cultivated fat tissue all the way to the market.

Redefine Meat, which is developing 3D printing technology for plant-based meat managed to raise $6 million from CPT Capital which is an early investor in big plant-based companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.  Zero Egg, which is creating a vegan egg, and Rilbite which is making a unique six-ingredient plant-based minced meat, both raised undisclosed seed financing rounds.   

The alternative protein space seems to be flourishing in Israel. InnovoPro raised $4.25 million last year while ChickP raised an undisclosed amount. 

Personalized nutrition

DayTwo, which promotes nutrition through gut microbiome analysis, secured a Series B round of $36 million. 

Sugar

There are a number of Israeli FoodTech startups that have been working on sugar reduction technologies to help with our sweet tooth. DouxMatok, has become a well-known name in this space, a startup which is developing low calorie sugar finished a Series B funding round of $22 million.

Amai Proteins is working on protein-based sweeteners, which are highly sought out by the beverage and dairy industry. This startup announced collaborations with many F&Bs including giants such as PepsiCo and Danone last year. Another way of reducing sugar intake is cutting them from fruit juices, which naturally carry a high volume of it. Better Juice is a prime example of a startup following this route. The company signed a collaboration agreement with orange juice giant CitroSuco.

Data and AI

Many Israeli foodtech startups have already announced major advancements in big data and AI technology.

TasteWise is developing a consumer intelligence platform for food innovation. Trellis is is also providing AI-powered food production optimization for potato chips and wine producers. Trigo Vision finished a $22 million in Series A funding. The young company is developing a no-checkout shopping solution and announced a partnership with retail giant Tesco last year.

Optimizing logistics for online grocery shopping is also a pain point for the Israeli foodtech industry and Fabric (known before as CommonSense Robotics) is trying to tackle this challenge by building robotic-driven micro-fulfillment centers that position logistics centers closer to consumers.

Interested to see how disruptive Israeli startups are tackling the current challenges we now face as a food system amid covid19?  Our partners at Eatable Adventures will delve into solutions for your business growth in their next webinar “Israeli startups Showcase: Solving New Challenges in the Food Industry” in collaboration with the Economic and Commercial Mission in the Israeli Embassy in Spain and the Israel Export Institute.

What are you waiting for? Sign up here!

Via @Agfunder