.png){kind=small}
Here's our Investors Spotlight - It's the very last day of Q3 and I thought what better way to celebrate than a look back at the investors that are shaping the landscape of the food and ingredients industry.
The first of our Q3 investors in the spotlight is a VC firm known locally as Innovation Capital (Bulgaria). Specialising in Bulgarian start-ups. This fast-moving VC firm is investing in a diverse portfolio of companies including some interesting food companies and 2022 has already seen this company involved in 25% more deals than their recorded 2021 activity.
Although we do like talking about the global VC firms, this regional investor makes our spotlight not just because Angel Angelov (managing partner) holds a board seat at Scala (food products) and I want some free samples sending my way but
also, the food companies they have recently invested in are committed to making our planet a better place to live (which is a common trend in thriving food and ingredients companies).
Foodobox received £140K in early-stage VC funding to help support the development and marketing of their platform which allows businesses to sell surplus food to consumers at a discounted price to help reduce waste. Foody.to offers a similar marketplace and was also Q3 recipient of investment this year.
So, if you happen to be a start-up based in Bulgaria and have an innovative way to save the planet Innovation Capital (Bulgaria) might be a good stop to make on your next funding round.
The next VC that we could not avoid mentioning is PeakBridge Partners, and whilst they may not be the most active, they have certainly made some noise in the food and ingredients space with their high-profile investments including the most recent £5million Series-A investment into Rival Foods alongside Roquette Ventures.
PeakBridge have found their place in the alternative-protein industry, securing investor seats in food companies alongside VCs such as Atlantic Food Labs and Big Idea Ventures and the well-established CGC Ventures.
A notable investment scraping into Q3 is the £10million Seed round led by Astanor Ventures into a French vegan cheese company, Standing Ovation, where they are using science to create an animal-free, planet-friendly, vegan cheese that generates protein-producing microbes and feeds them with plant-based sugars in their fermenters following the traditional process of cheesemaking.
PeakBridge are quickly gaining A-list status as a VC firm in food and ingredients and should be a first choice investor for any food and ingredients company.
My last entry this week, (we would love to mention them all), is a powerhouse VC in food and ingredients, you would need to have been living in a cave for the last 18-months not to have heard of them…
Big Idea Ventures, yes, we’re talking about them too. This investor was included in a plethora of deals in 2021 without blinking, and whilst this year may not be seeing as many new investments they are still a worthy contender to include in our Q3 investors spotlight.
Andrew Ive has chaired nearly half of their 100+ deals over the years and with Thomas Mastrobuoni as the Chief Investment Officer there is nothing but food and ingredients on the radar here.
Of course they were involved in the £10million Standing Ovation Seed round we've already mentioned but lately you will also find them listed against Nutropy - a French start-up intended to develop the next generation of cheese and Cultivated Biosciences - Producer of yeast-based food ingredients intended to make plant-based dairy products creamier.
When anyone talks about VC firms in the food and ingredients industry these are three names that should be included. Each of them making meaningful investments into world-changing, innovative companies that are powering the food and ingredients industry.
I am humbled to have gained over 5,000 subscribers to our newsletter, but now we want to reach 10,000 so please like, share and comment to help us out!
Meyrick Consulting Placing leaders in the food and ingredients industry globally