In This Issue:
- Food Venture Financing Trends
- CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Funds
- Links to Relevant Content and Events
Food Venture Financing Trends
- Athletic Brewing, a nonalcoholic beer producer, announced that it raised $50 million in equity financing.
- NovoNutrients, an alternative protein startup that uses microbes to create protein in food, announced that it raised $18 million in its Series A round.
- ByBuy, a Chilean startup that produces recombinant protein from genetically engineered flies, announced that it raised a $1.4 million seed round.
CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Fund
This week's featured corporate venture and private equity fund is Capital Kitchens.
- Capital Kitchens is a shared-use commercial kitchen rental, culinary incubator, and mobile food commissary based in Texas. It creates a nurturing atmosphere for startups mixed with experienced food vendors. Capital Kitchens was named as one of the top 10 Mission Driven Incubator Kitchens in the country by Foodboro. Its target market includes:
- CPG food & beverage manufacturers
- Artisan food & beverage
- Mobile food trucks
- Caterers, personal chefs, and bakers
- Capital Kitchens has helped over 300 consumer package goods (CPG) companies, food manufacturers, caterers, chefs, and food truck businesses succeed since 2012. Examples include:
- Credo Foods
- Simmering Soup Co
- Maple & Merit
- Sezi
- Steamm Espresso
Links to Relevant Content and Events
ARTICLES
- Cult Food Science Publishes Open Letter to Florida Govt Opposing Cultured Meat Ban
- Poppi Lawsuit Turns Attention and Scrutiny to the Prebiotic Beverage Industry
- Bovaer is ‘Creating a Self-Sustaining Carbon Inset Market for American Agriculture’ Says Elanco
- Foray Bioscience Raises $3 Million to Protect and Restore Natural Ecosystems with Biomanufacturing
- Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats to Merge, Creating Cultured Seafood Platform
- Above Food Corp. Goes Public: Shares Now Trading Under ‘ABVE’ on Nasdaq
UPCOMING EVENTS
Naturally Chicago
61st Street Farmers Market Tour
Saturday, July 13 | 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. CT
Location: 61st Street Farmers Market, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave., Chicago, IL
Naturally Chicago, the trade association for the region's Natural Products industry, and Local Food Forum, a publication dedicated to efforts to build a better food system, invite you to join them for a tour of the 61st St. Farmers Market. Connie Spreen, executive director of 61st Street Farmers Market since 2007, will lead the tour.
Naturally Boulder
Morning Meetup
Tuesday, July 16 | 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. MT
Location: CU Boulder South, 4886 Table Mesa Dr., Boulder, CO
Join Naturally Boulder for an easy walk around CU Boulder South. Start your day on the right foot exploring beautiful Boulder with other natural products industry professionals. Whether you're new to Naturally Boulder or looking to grow your community, this event is a great opportunity to meet your step count goals, fit in a dog walk, and connect with friends old and new!
Naturally San Diego
NSD x BevNET, Featuring an Interview with John Craven
Wednesday, July 17 | 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. PT
Location: Novo Brazil Brewing Mission Valley, 1640 Camino Del Rio N Ste 341, San Diego, CA
Join your favorite CPG groups, Naturally San Diego and BevNET for our regular meetup! This meetup will feature an interview with John Craven, Founder and CEO of BevNET. Craven will tell his story of founding BevNET and how he has seen the industry change over the years. There will be plenty of time for connecting and collaborating before and after the program.
Naturally New England
Rise & Thrive: Why You Need a Mission and Resilience to Succeed
Tuesday, July 23 | 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. ET
Location: Stonyfield Farm, 10 Burton Dr., Londonderry, NH
Join Naturally Boulder for a morning speakeasy and intimate networking with Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of Stonyfield Organic. Take a deep dive into mission and resilience in entrepreneurship. With only 40 tickets available, reserving your spot early is recommended.
Naturally New York
Restaurant + Retail
Thursday, July 25 | 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Anchin, 3 Times Square, New York, NY
Join Naturally New York for an insightful Restaurant + Retail panel discussion featuring esteemed leaders who have successfully transitioned from the restaurant industry to launching their own CPG companies. Our panel includes Blythe Kaplowitz, Vice President of Tacombi, Kiernan Laughlin, General Manager of Deep Indian Kitchen, Marguerite Mariscal, CEO of Momofuku, and Teepoo Riaz, Of Counsel to Helbraun Levey. They will delve into the motivations behind launching CPG products, the impact of CPG on their brand and restaurant business, and their goals for the CPG venture. Gain valuable insights into their journey, challenges faced, and lessons learned.
Speakers:
- Blythe Kaplowitz, Vice President & General Manager at Tacombi & Vista Hermosa
- Kiernan Laughlin, General Manager at Deep Indian Kitchen
- Marguerite Zabar Mariscal, CEO of Momofuku
- Teepoo Riaz, Of Counsel at Helbraun & Levey LLP