European Food Tech Investment Heats Up with 2 New Multimillion Funds

Food tech investment in Europe is heating up, with two new funds dedicated to the sector launched this week. While Eatable Adventures has kickstarted a €50 million fund to support early-stage agri-food tech startups in Europe, Five Seasons Ventures’ has drawn in €180 million for its second fund for consumer-focused food techs. 

Two new funds have just launched in Europe to support the region’s fast-growing food tech industry, with investors now increasingly placing their bets on the disruptive potential of the sector. Madrid-based Eatable just opened its €50 million Eatable Evolution Fund FCR I, the biggest of its kind in Spain targeting early-stage food and agri-tech companies in Europe and Latin America. 

Meanwhile, Paris-headquartered Five Seasons Ventures has closed its Fund II with €180 million to back the “most promising” European consumer-facing food techs, primarily through Series A and B investments. 

Eatable: growth-stage investments

On the back of its experience operating over 10 accelerator and incubator programs in Europe, Eatable’s first-ever fund is fully focused on growth-stage and early-stage startups. The Spanish fund is the largest of its kind in its home country, and among the top three in Europe, it claims.

Some of the startups the company has previously supported through its accelerator include Cocuus, the food tech making hyper-realistic plant-based ribeye steak using 3D printing technology, and mycelium-based burger makers Innomy. 

The new fund plans to back around 18 projects across Europe and Latin America, with investments led by Eatable’s three co-founders José Luis Cabañero, Mila Valcárcel, and José de Isasa, together with former global CEO of Louis Dreyfus, Gonzalo Ramírez Martiaren. 

Five Seasons: hyper-growth food techs

Based in Paris, Five Seasons Ventures launched its second fund this week. Fund II, which closed with an impressive €180 million committed, is placing its emphasis on “fast-growing consumer-focused food with a quantifiable environmental or social impact.” 

In its Fund I, the VC-backed players like THIS, the cult-favourite British vegan meat brand turning heads with its unique marketing approach, and reusable smart water bottle company Air-Up. 

The VC says it aims to support those startups proving it can scale at the “same speed as traditional tech” firms and achieve “hyper-growth”—where companies surpass €100 million in revenue within four years. Air-Up has already ticked the box within two years of launching. Food techs backed in Fund II include The Nu Company, the German startup behind vegan chocolate and protein brand Nucao.

Five Seasons joined the firm’s latest €14 million Series A, which will go towards the climate-positive, plastic-free vegan chocolate and protein brand’s expansion across Europe and global markets.

“There’s no doubt that food tech is experiencing a boom in Europe right now,” shared Five Seasons co-founding partner Ivan Farneti. “Fund II was quickly oversubscribed as more investors wanted to get exposed to European food tech, seeking high growth and impact.”

Last year, European food techs raised a total of €2.7 billion, with a major step up in capital inflows in alt-protein companies and novel foodservice technologies. The figure for 2021 is likely to get even steeper, with agri-food techs globally already raising $24 billion within the first half of this year alone. 

Lead image courtesy of THIS.