Next Level Burger is taking its investment to the next level

Next Level Burger, a vegan burger chain, announced that it raised $20 million in funding. The new funding will be used to accelerate its U.S. expansion, which will quadruple its store count to 1,000 by the end of 2025. The round was led by a strategic organic and natural foods partner, private mission-driven shareholders and early-stage vegan investors Alex Payne, formerly of Twitter and Simple Bank, and Nicole Brodeur.

True Food to launch a new brand with $100M investment

Health brand True Food Kitchen announced plans to launch a new fast-casual brand next year in Phoenix, Arizona. The new funding round was led by HumanCo and Manna Tree with support from existing investor Centerbridge Partners. This is the largest investment the 42-unit chain has received since it was founded in 2008.

Gotham Greens raises $310M

Gotham Greens received an investment of $310 million to expand its greenhouses nationwide. Since the brand’s 2009 launch, it has raised a total of $440 million. The new investment round was led by BMO Impact Investment Fund and Ares Management, with participation from Commonfund, RockCreek, Kimco Realty Corporation, Manna Tree Partners and The Silverman Group

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker invests in RTD beverage

Budda Baker is now a shareholder in LIFEAID Beverage Co. and has invested a significant amount into the company’s new FITAID Energy launch. FITAID Energy is a better-for-you, clean beverage brand available in the United States and Europe. FITAID Energy is LIFEAID’s most successful brand launch to date (the brand launched in mid-2022) and accounts for 26% of the company’s sales.

Berlin, Germany-based personalized nutrition company raises 10 million euros

Lykon, a 4-year-old personalized nutrition and dietary supplements company, raised 10 million euros in a Series A round led by venture capital investor Zintinus. Bridge to Growth, another venture investor, and existing investors MA Ventures and Ippen Digital also participated. MA Ventures led a 6.4 million euros fundraising round in 2021, which allowed Lykon to acquire Gaia Nutrition.

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Oxwash cleans up in Series A Round

The U.K. eco laundry startup Oxwash has secured £10 million in funding led by Untitled VC, with existing backer Biz Stone (Twitter co-founder), Indeed founder Paul Forster, and Holly and Sam Branson. Oxwash is taking on conventional commercial laundry by offering a gentler wet cleaning technique to replace dry cleaning. Rather than harsh chemicals, Oxwash uses biodegradable detergents and reduces water consumption, saving nearly 4 liters of water per 1kg of clothes washed. Another sustainability effort Oxwash makes is using ozone as a disinfecting agent. Ozone allows fabrics to be sterilized and deodorized at lower temperatures. The new financing will allow for expansion across the U.K and add more e-bikes and electric vehicles to its fleet for pickups and drop-offs to minimize carbon emissions. The company also recently announced that it gained B Corporation Certification.

Instacart acquires Eversight

Oversight is an AI-powered pricing and promotions platform for CPG brands and retailers. The experimentation-based platform allows CPGs and retailers to test customizable prices and promotions to customers directly and at scale. Instacart’s investment in this pricing and promotions expertise will make it easier for more customers to save on groceries. Instacart also recently introduced new incentives to help customers save money: It now offers a 5% cash back on pickup orders, and a new Instacart Chase card gives a 5% statement credit on all purchases.

Funding goes swimmingly for Mermade Seafoods

Mermade Seafoods received $3.3 million in seed funding from OurCrowd, Fall Line and Sake Bosch. Founded in 2021, Mermade Seafood’s technology will streamline scallop production to offer an alternative protein at a lower price point. The food tech company uses circular cellular agriculture technology to produce cultivated scallops. Cell-cultured foods produce a significant amount of often-discarded biowaste. Mermade Seafoods uses that biowaste to feed the algae that feed the cultured cells. The company is working on patenting its version of aquaponics, which it will call cytoponics, to help lower costs. This funding will allow the company to employ more stem cell and algae researchers and plan to reach laboratory-scale production in 2023.

Motatos raises €38M Series D

Swedish startup Motatos announced a €38 million Series D Round, which brings its total funding to €130 million. Motatos is a discounted groceries startup in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, the U.K. and Germany. Motatos focuses on selling household goods with a long shelf life such as pantry items, beverages, personal care products and pet food. All products come from the surplus inventory of larger producers for a reduced price. By selling surplus food, the company helps prevent food waste from entering landfills. In 2021, Motatos’ sales were €68 million and are on track for €100 million this year. This Series D Round was led by Swedish bank SEB with U.K.-based VC Exor Capital.

Live Nation invests in high-tech reusable cups

As large crowds return to festivals, Live Nation is trying to prevent the return of seas of plastic cups left on the ground and sent to landfills. The concert promoter has invested $5 million into Turn Systems, a startup that helps venues eliminate single-use cups. Turn Systems provides reusable cups, collection bins and proprietary dishwashers that are said to be 700% faster than traditional dishwashers. Turn’s cups are handed out to fans at no extra cost, but each cup has a scannable code on the bottom that activates the opening of a collection bin for disposal. Other investors include ab InBev, Bjarke Ingels Group and Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures.

Misfits Market to acquire Imperfect Foods

Misfits Market is acquiring fellow online grocery platform Imperfect Foods in an all-stock deal. Since its founding in 2018, Misfits Market has raised nearly $530 million. A $200 million Series C Round in 2021 put the company’s valuation at over $1 billion. Imperfect Foods, founded in 2015 to help rescue and redistribute ‘ugly’ produce, raised $110 million in a Series D Round last year, bringing its total to $229 million. While the Misfits Market CEO did not disclose the deal’s valuation, they did say that combining the online grocery platforms will drive sales to $1 billion in early 2024. Until online grocers reach that sales benchmark, profitability is difficult; scaling up will help drive-long term revenue.

Hero to be acquired for $630M

Church & Dwight Co. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hero, the creator of acne patch brand Mighty Patch, for $630 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Hero’s net sales were approximately $115 million in the previous year. Hero joins Nair, Batiste, Viviscal, Flawless and Toppik to Church & Dwight’s Specialty Hair and Skin portfolio lineup. The total acne treatment market is approximately $700 million. Hero’s 2023 net sales are projected to increase 15% to $150 million.

Klim plants a $6.6M seed

Klim, a Berlin, Germany-based agri-tech startup, has raised $6.6 million in seed funding to help farmers quickly adapt to regenerative farming methods. Nearly 1,700 farmers have signed up to receive support. Klim’s app helps farmers set goals and determine the best ways to improve soil health, increase biodiversity and lower their carbon footprint. Farmers who document their transition and through Klim’s satellite data and monitoring can earn payouts for carbon sequestered at the farm. As farmers’ soil health improves, they can receive funds for undertaking other sustainable measures such as reforesting. The startup is also looking into loans for farmers. Founded in 2020, Klim has raised a total of nearly €8 million. Berlin-based food and green tech investor Green Generation Fund led the most recent seed funding. The investment will help Klim to look at expanding internationally.

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Eat Just raises $25M to grow business in China

Eat Just, the egg alternative brand, secured an investment of $25 million from private equity firm C2 Capital Partners which provides growth capital and support to companies seeking to scale their business in China. Eat Just’s Just Egg brand has been available on e-commerce platforms and street vendors in Shanghai since 2019. C2 Partner’s anchor investor is Alibaba Group and this transaction marks their first investment in the alternative protein sector.

Venus William’s Happy Viking wins a major investment round

Happy Viking, a plant-based superfood nutrition company created by Venus Williams, has recently closed an investment round led by fellow athletes. Serena Williams, Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V, Robin Arzón, Michelle Wie West, Megan Rapinoe, Reilly Opelka, Isaiah Hartenstein and Collin Sexton all financed the $2 million round. Venus Williams created Happy Viking after being diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease, in 2011. She experimented with creating great-tasting recipes with superfood ingredients and a plant-based diet to help aid her recovery and improve her health.

Ish receives €5M investment from Anora

Anora, a wine and spirits-based brand house, has now acquired a 26% stake in Ish with its recent investment. Ish is a Danish non-alcoholic beverage company with a portfolio of non-alcoholic spirits, wines and ready-to-drink beverages. The new partnership with Anora will see Ish’s products distributed in Norway, Sweden and Finland. On top of expanding international growth, Anora’s investment will help Ish expand its sales, marketing efforts and new product launches.

From YouTube to Coffee—a big investment

YouTube influencer Emma Chamberlain’s Chamberlin Coffee has closed a $7 million Series A Funding Round. The brand harnesses Chamberlain’s influencer status and online audience by being digital-driven and geared towards Gen Z when it comes to selling its USDA Organic-certified coffee and other products. The new funding round will help the successful e-commerce brand to create new products and expand retail efforts. Recently Chamberlain Coffee partnered with Swoon to create a co-branded Matcha Lemonade that was nominated for a NEXTY Award.

Positive Food Co. raises $7M

Positive Food Co. creates freshly prepared foods such as freshly packaged salads, heat-and-eat meals and vegan overnight oats. The fresh prepared foods market is a $34 billion industry. Co-founders Schuyler Deerman and James Chan began Positive Food by selling fresh, reasonably priced prepared meals out of a cooler in WeWork offices throughout Los Angeles. They then expanded into coffee shops but have pivoted to focus on Whole Foods and other new channels due to the pandemic. The new funding comes from BlueYard Capital, Western Tech, Y Combinator, Gaingels and a mix of entrepreneurs from Thrive Market, Fitbit, Instacart, WordPress and more.

Square Baby pulls in $1.8M

Square Baby is a science-based nutrition brand offering customizable meal services for babies. The brand is committed to providing veggie-forward, balanced meals that help with food allergy prevention. The new $1.8 million investment will help the brand to expand nationally and serve a rapidly growing waitlist of 10,000 families. The investment will also fuel DTC growth, create new eco-friendly packaging and expand the brand’s team.

More money in mycelium

Mycel, a South Korean startup, uses a root-like structure of mushrooms (mycelium) to create fungal-based biomaterials that are replacements for leather and meat. Mycel recently announced that it has raised $10 million in a pre-Series A round of funding. The startup will use the new funding to open a new production plant in South Korea that will scale up production and increase the number of employees. The brand has also been in talks with global cosmetic brands to co-develop mycelium-based leather fashion products and beauty ingredients. The brand is aiming to commercialize its mushroom leather in 2023.

Vividly raises $18M Series A

Vividly (formerly Cresicor), the leading modern trade promotion management solution, recently announced an $18 million Series A financing round. The round was led by led by 645 Ventures and Vertex Ventures US, with participation from existing investors Costanoa Partners and Torch Capital as well as Green Spoon Sales. The CPG industry spends at least 20% of its revenue on trade promotion management. Vividly provides cloud-based software that helps brands manage all aspects of their trade promotion management and data analytics. Vividly has raised $23 million to date and will use the new funding to scale its team and accelerate product development.

Disclaimer: NCN does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any NCN news item. Before relying on any NCN News item the information should be independently verified.