EMERGING TECH RESEARCH
Foodtech Report
VC trends and innovation spotlights
Q3 REPORT PREVIEW
The full report is available through
2024 the PitchBook Platform.
Contents
Vertical update 3 Institutional Research Group
Analysis
Q3 2024 timeline 6
Alex Frederick Senior Analyst, Emerging Technology
Foodtech VC deal summary 7
alex.frederick@pitchbook.com
Foodtech landscape 8 pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com
Ben Riccio Associate Analyst, Emerging Technology
Foodtech VC ecosystem market map 9
ben.riccio@pitchbook.com
VC activity 10 pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com
Innovation spotlights 28 Data
Harrison Waldock Data Analyst
B2B food suppliers 29
Food intelligence & development 32 Publishing
Select company highlights 35 Report designed by Megan Woodard
Published on December 6, 2024
Wonder 36
Miso Robotics 39
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 2
Q3 2024 timeline
July 8 August 6 August 20
B2B food e-commerce and supply chain platform GrubMarket acquires grocery delivery platform Zappfresh acquires online meat and poultry
VC deal
VC exit
VC exit
GrubMarket raises $100 million in series G funding. Good Eggs for an undisclosed sum. marketplace Bonsaro for an undisclosed sum.
Jul 1
Aug 1
Sep 1
Sep 30
July 22 August 14 August 20
German grocery chains Aldi and REWE pilot Rapid grocery delivery provider Zepto raises $340 Calysta ships its first orders of pet protein to
VC deal
News
News
vending machines offering fresh produce and million in Series G VC funding. European pet-food producers. FeedKind Pet is
staples 24/7. made from air-based fermented protein.
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 6
Foodtech VC deal summary
Quarterly activity Trailing 12-month (TTM) activity
Q3 2023 Q4 2023 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024 Q4 2022 to Q3 2023 Q4 2023 to Q3 2024
Deal count 321 294 318 243 234 1,660 1,089
QoQ change -17.3% -8.4% 8.2% -23.6% -3.7% N/A -34.4%
Share of total VC 3.3% 2.9% 3.2% 2.6% 2.8% 3.7% 2.9%
Deal value ($B) $3.0 $1.7 $3.1 $2.4 $2.7 $10.8 $9.8
QoQ change 15.9% -45.1% 86.2% -21.1% 10.7% N/A -8.8%
Share of total VC 3.7% 2.0% 3.7% 2.6% 3.1% 3.0% 2.8%
Exit count 20 24 23 29 19 98 95
Public listings 2 5 1 1 1 6 8
Acquisitions 17 16 15 25 13 82 69
Buyouts 1 3 7 3 5 10 18
Source: PitchBook • Geography: Global • As of September 30, 2024
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 7
Foodtech
landscape
Alt-proteins
4. 3
Bioengineered foods
Discovery & review
4.0
E-commerce 4. 5
Food production
Restaurant & retail tech
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 8
VC activity Q3 2024 foodtech VC deal activity by segment
VC investment in foodtech remained stagnant in Q3, as deal activity was consistent with the past 79
several quarters. We tracked $2.7 billion invested over 234 deals in Q3. Deal value rose 10.7% from
51 28
Q2 but fell 10.8% YoY. The final deal count will likely end slightly above Q2’s total of 243 as more 20
$111.6 25 33
deals are reported retroactively. However, this figure will still mark a significant YoY decrease from $191.1
the 321 deals closed in Q3 2023. Seed and early-stage deals that are closing have reached record $569.9 $347.8 $945.2 $544.5
sizes. Through three quarters, the median deal size for pre-seed/seed rounds reached $2.3 million, Alt-proteins Bioengineered Discovery & E-commerce Food Restaurant &
while early-stage VC deals hit $3.3 million—both new highs. Investors have become more selective foods review production retail tech
but are committing larger amounts of capital to the early-stage startups they choose to fund. Deal value ($M) Deal count
The largest deal of the quarter went to ultrafast delivery platform Zepto, which secured $340 Source: PitchBook • Geography: Global • As of September 30, 2024
million in Series G funding. The startup is reportedly planning to go public next year.1 Flink,
another ultrafast food delivery platform, also closed a $150 million megadeal in Q3. Among
foodtech categories, personalized nutrition platforms saw greater VC interest. Fueled by digital
TTM foodtech VC deal activity by segment
nutrition platform Foodsmart’s $200 million megadeal, the category saw the largest amount of
VC investment since Q4 2020 with $335.2 million across 14 deals. Other startups contributing
to the increased funding include Levels and Viome Life Sciences. Within the alt-proteins space, 360
fermentation technology continues to capture investor interest, attracting $332.6 million across
229 178
23 deals in the quarter. Over the last two years, VC activity in this space has outpaced plant-based 83 97
157
proteins, a category that attracted the majority of alt-proteins funding in 2021 and 2022. The $634.1 $611.2
shifting trend highlights the growing maturity of the plant-based meat industry and could signify a $1,970.1 $1,091.0 $3,259.0 $2,405.1
new source of startup innovations for alt-proteins.
Alt-proteins Bioengineered Discovery & E-commerce Food Restaurant &
foods review production retail tech
Deal value ($M) Deal count
Source: PitchBook • Geography: Global • As of September 30, 2024
1: “Zepto in Talks With Investment Banks for Potential IPO Next Year,” The Economic Times, Digbijay Mishra, September 7, 2024.
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 10
VC ACTIVITY
Key foodtech late-stage VC deals by value in Q3 2024
Post-money
Company Close date Category Deal value ($M) Deal type Lead investor(s)
valuation ($M)
Flink September 17 Online grocers $150.0 $700.0 Late-stage VC BOND Capital, REWE
Jüsto September 19 Online grocers $70.0 N/A Series C General Atlantic, Tarsadia Investments
Air Company August 22 Fermented protein $70.0 $460.0 Series B Avfuel Corporation
Botrista July 16 Kitchen tech & robotics $65.0 N/A Series C Jollibee Foods
Formo September 9 Fermented protein $61.0 N/A Series B N/A
Cayena September 18 Online grocers $53.8 N/A Series B Bicycle Capital
Bessemer Venture Partners, Hillhouse
dinii September 25 Restaurant marketplaces $52.0 N/A Series B
Investment Group
Levels August 14 Personalized nutrition $47.0 N/A Series A N/A
Helaina September 25 Fermented protein $45.0 N/A Series B Avidity Partners
Menusifu September 30 Sales & operations tech $40.0 N/A Series B N/A
Source: PitchBook • Geography: Global • As of September 30, 2024
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 18
VC ACTIVITY
Key foodtech incumbents
Enterprise value (EV)/
Company Category Key products next 12-month (NTM) EV/NTM EBITDA
revenue
DoorDash Restaurant marketplaces Food delivery marketplace 4.4x 21.6x
Toast Sales & operations tech Restaurant point of sale 2.4x 33.2x
Instacart Online grocers, restaurant marketplaces Online grocery 2.5x 9.4x
Delivery Hero Restaurant marketplaces Food delivery marketplace 1.0x 11.5x
Yelp Food & beverage discovery Crowd-sourced restaurant marketplace 1.3x 5.7x
HelloFresh Meal kits Meal kits N/A N/A
Olo Sales & operations tech Restaurant order & payment platform 1.4x 14.0x
Dingdong Maicai Online grocers Online grocery 0.2x N/A
Moolec Science Plant molecular farming Animal proteins 5.9x N/A
Beyond Meat Plant-based protein Plant-based meats 4.4x N/A
Source: PitchBook • Geography: Global • As of September 30, 2024
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 21
SELECT COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS: MISO ROBOTICS
Key company information
Founded Total raised First disclosed institutional round
2016 $126.5M Raised $1.6M in seed funding
Overview
Employees Last financing valuation Lead investor
101 $523.4M as of November 18, 2022 N/A
Miso Robotics develops innovative solutions to automate fast-food service. The startup’s flagship
robot is Flippy, an automated fry station capable of producing fried food faster and more safely HQ location Last disclosed financing
than with human labor. Through a strategic partnership with NVIDIA, Flippy is equipped with AI Pasadena, US Raised $4.9 million in equity
crowdfunding
and ML capabilities, enabling it to perform food recognition, self-maintenance, and automatic
scheduling. This integration uses NVIDIA’s AI vision technology and Isaac ROS (robot operating
system), allowing Flippy to adapt and learn from its environment—a crucial feature for deployment
across diverse kitchen settings. This partnership has led several fast-food chains to test the robot,
with White Castle being one of the earliest adopters. The chain announced plans to deploy Flippy
in one-third of its 350 locations,3 contributing to 80% of Miso Robotics’ revenue in the first half Exit Predictor
of 2024. Previously, Miso Robotics attempted to commercialize an automatic tortilla chip fryer
4
named Chippy, which was tested in select Chipotle locations. However, due to high deployment
and cleaning costs that negated labor savings, Chipotle decided not to proceed with Chippy,
leaving Flippy as Miso Robotics’ sole market product. 5
IPO: 36% probability M&A: 62% probability No exit: 2% probability
Fry stations are among the most repetitive and hazardous environments in fast-food kitchens,
Success: 98% probability
making them prime candidates for automation. While the adoption of robots in food service
is still nascent, chains such as Chipotle and Sweetgreen have made notable investments in
3: “Robots Can Make Your Fries, Salads and Guacamole. Is This the Future of Fast Food?” Los Angeles Times, Queenie Wong, October 30, 2024.
4: “Semi-Annual Report Pursuant to Regulation A of the Securities Act of 1933: Miso Robotics,” US Securities and Exchange Commission, June 30, 2024.
5: “Rise of the Restaurant Robots: Chipotle, Sweetgreen and Others Bet on Automation,” The Wall Street Journal, Heather Haddon, July 11, 2024. Note: Probability data is based on PitchBook VC Exit Predictor methodology.
Q3 2024 Foodtech Report CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION. PG 39
PitchBook Data, Inc.
Nizar Tarhuni Executive Vice President of Research
and Market Intelligence
Paul Condra Head of Emerging Technology Research
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