Source: Wall Street Journal

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Eat Just has become the world’s first company to gain regulatory approval to sell its cell-cultured chicken in Singapore. Kind will acquire Nature’s Bakery for a projected sum of $400 million, following news of its acquisition by Mars.

Restaurant tech startups are gaining traction amid the pandemic, with news of Toast’s valuation soaring to $8 billion seven months after cutting half its staff. In addition, Lightspeed has acquired Upserve for $430 million. Last but not least, Uber has completed its acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion.

During an economic roundtable Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden expressed his support for providing restaurants with grants instead of loans.

We need your support. Producing our newsletter takes a lot of time and resources, and we need to change our business model to keep it going. To date, we’ve funded our work through our events, sponsorships and consulting, which are all on hold due to the pandemic. If you find our newsletter to be a valuable resource, we hope you will consider making a one time or monthly contribution, so we can keep the newsletter going and free for those who can not afford a subscription fee. Whether it’s $5 or $500 every bit helps and shows us that you value our work. Not able to contribute right now? You can help by sharing our newsletter with friends and colleagues. 

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Eat Just to Sell Lab-Grown Meat in Singapore After Gaining ‘World First’ Regulatory Approval – TechCrunch

The cell-cultured chicken will eventually be produced under Eat Just’s new GOOD Meat brand through partnerships with local manufacturers and go on sale to restaurants before it is available to consumers.

2. Kind Acquires Nature’s Bakery – Food Dive

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but believed to be around $400m. The acquisition will help Kind owner Mars continue to build its health-and-wellness business.

3. Restaurant Tech Startup Toast Soars to $8B Valuation Seven Months After Cutting Half Its Staff – CNBC

Toast laid off half its employees in April, but has bounced back quickly. The company was previously valued at $4.9b in February, before the pandemic.

4. Lightspeed Acquires Restaurant Software Company Upserve for $430M – TechCrunch

Upserve brought in $40m in revenue during the 12-month period ending on September 30. The deal is supposed to grow Lightspeed’s footpring by 7k locations.

5. Uber Completes $2.65B Postmates Acquisition – Restaurant Dive

Uber will run the consumer-facing Postmates app separate from its Uber Eats app. The acquisition will give Uber Eats the largest market share in Los Angeles.

6. Biden Calls for Grants to Support Restaurant Industry – Restaurant Dive

Biden’s support for direct aid to restaurants is no small statement. The industry wasn’t a topic of discussion during the presidential debates and isn’t mentioned in the Biden-Harris transition plan.

7. Farm Produce Platform Nice Tuan Makes It $450M Funding for the Year with Alibaba-Led Tranche – AgFunder

The company has raised $196M co-led by Alibaba and Jeneration Capital. New capital will be used to expand sales channels and generate more income for small and medium-sized businesses.

8. Meet The Breakout Entrepreneurs Who Are Resetting the Food Industry While Under 30 Years Old – Forbes

The 2021 Forbes Food & Drink 30 Under 30 list highlights up-and-coming superstars from the worlds of restaurants, packaged food, alcohol, recipe development and ag tech who have persevered despite the odds.

9. UK: Environment to Benefit from ‘Biggest Farming Shake-Up in 50 Years’ – The Guardian

The £1.6b subsidy farmers receive every year for simply owning or renting land will be phased out by 2028, with the funds used instead to pay them to restore wild habitats, create new woodlands, boost soils and cut pesticide use.

10. Seattle Startup Flexe Raises $70M As E-Commerce Rise Fuels Demand for Flexible Warehousing Platform – GeekWire

T Rowe Price led the round. Funding will be used to double the size of the company’s engineering team and grow its sales arm.

11. China: HungryPanda Raises $70M for a Food Delivery App Aimed at Overseas Chinese Consumer – TechCrunch

Kinnevik led the Series C. Funding will be used to continue its global expansion. HungryPanda is now live in 47 cities across Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and the UK.

12. Kate Farms Nets $51M from Goldman Sachs, Others for Organic Tube-Feeding Formulas – AgFunder

The startup will use funding to boost its innovation and expansion efforts.

13. Walmart Is Buying JoyRun Assets to Add ‘Peer-to-Peer’ Product Delivery – TechCrunch

Financial terms were undisclosed. JoyRun offers a peer-to-peer food and drink last-mile delivery.

14. Mexico: Orbia Launches $130M Venture Fund, Injects $2M into Plant Health Startup SeeTree – AgFunder

The fund will focus on Series A and B deals with an average check size of $1m to $6m with a focus on Israel, Europe and the US.

15. DoorDash Seeks Valuation of Up to $32B in IPO, Double What It Was in June – CNBC

The company is looking to raise up to $2.8b in its IPO and list 33m shares at a price between $75 and $85.

16. A Fight Over Agriculture Secretary Could Decide the Direction of Hunger Policy – New York Times

The delicate proxy clash has pitted Democrats eager to emphasize issues like hunger and nutrition against traditionalists who believe the department should represent rural America.

17. Food & Ag Anti-Racism Resources + Black Food & Farm Businesses to Support

Check out our list of resources to learn about systemic racism in the food and agriculture industries. We also highlight Black food and farm businesses and organizations to support.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post First Lab-Grown Chicken Approved For Sale, Biden Calls for Restaurant Grants + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.