Food Venture Financing News - Weekly Issue No. 42

In This Issue:

• SBA Releases Revised PPP Forgiveness Forms
• PPP Borrowers May Be Eligible for Additional Forgiveness for EIDL Advances
• Food Venture Financing Trends
• Links to Relevant Content and Events

SBA Releases Revised PPP Forgiveness Forms

• This week the SBA released revised, streamlined forms for applying for forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program, including:
  
  • A form for PPP loans of $150,000 or less: Form 3508S.
  • A form for borrowers who (i) are self-employed with no employees, (ii) did not reduce employee salaries by more than 25% and did not reduce employee hours OR (ii) reduced business activity due to COVID-19 health guidelines and did not reduce employee salaries by more than 25%: Form 3508-EZ.
  • A standard form for borrowers not eligible to use either of the above forms: Form 3508.

PPP Borrowers May Be Eligible for Additional Forgiveness for EIDL Advances

• Under the original CARES Act, borrowers of EIDL loans were eligible for an immediate advance of up to $10,000 which was treated as a grant.
  
• However, if the borrower also took out a PPP loan, that advance was deducted from any forgiveness of the PPP loan.
  
• The new Economic Aid Act eliminated this requirement, and the advance will no longer be deducted from any forgiveness amounts.
  
• For PPP loans in which the forgiveness process is complete, the SBA will provide the advance amount to the PPP lender; it is the lender's responsibility to inform the PPP borrower upon receipt of such amount.

Food Venture Financing Trends

• Organic food products sales continues to grow year over year. Organic produce sales were up 14.2% in 2020 compared to 10.7% increase for conventional produce sales.
  
• Imperfect Foods, a grocery delivery service that sells 'ugly' produce, raised $95M in its Series D round, highlighting the importance of grocery delivery in the current environment.
  
• BlueNalu, a cell-based seafood company, announced its $60M debt financing, noting its goal to sell cell-based seafood to customers by the end of 2021.
  
• Chobani announced that it will allow its workers to use up to 6 hours of work time to get two vaccine doses, signaling the food industry's priority to vaccinate its employees.
  
• Kind Healthy Snacks launched a new platform, Kind RD Connect, to connect customers with local dieticians to discuss nutrition-related questions.
  
• Last week, President Biden signed an executive order to increase federal food assistance by requesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase emergency benefits, such as school meals or SNAP benefits, by 15%.

Links to Relevant Content and Events

ARTICLES

• Imperfect Foods Secures $95 Million Investment
  
• Private Equity Firm Invests in Dr. Praeger's
  
• Killer Creamery Raises $1.5 Million
  
• The Big Ideas Behind Big Idea Ventures
  
• BlueNalu Gets $60 Million in Debt Financing To Bring Cell-Based Seafood to the U.S. This Year
  
• Nutrition Brand Muniq Secures $8.2 Million in Funding
  
• CookUnity: Secures $15.5 Million in Series A Funding
  
• Organic Produce Sales Up 14% in 2020, Topping $8.5 Billion
  
• Chobani To Give Its 2,220 Workers Up to 6 Hours Off To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
  
• Food Tech News: GROW Impact Accelerator 2021 Cohort, U.S. Plastic Pact Sets 2025 Goals
  
• Biden Tackles Food Insecurity in Executive Order To Boost SNAP, Pandemic-EBT Benefits & More
  
• Third Wave of Plant-Based Will Move Beyond Highly Processed Meat Analogs, Says Crafty Counter: 'Why Aren't We Eating More Plants as Plants?'
  

Events

For detailed event and registration information, visit this page.

• Bernstein Webinar: Advanced Tax Strategies For Founders
  Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT
  
• Mattson Webinar: The New Normal: How the COVID-Era Has Accelerated Food Trends and Behaviors Going Into 2021
  Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT
  
• Naturally Bay Area's 3rd Annual Pitch Slam
  Thursday, February 11, 2021 - 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. PT
  
• Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute Webinar - Yes We Can: Perspectives and Strategies for a Successful 2021
  January 27 – March 24, 2021
  
• NEW ACCELERATOR COHORTS AND CERTIFICATIONS
  
  • ICA - The Lab and The Accelerator
  • FS6 Accelerator
  • The Upcycled Food Certification