This week, PepsiCo. and ADM made a major announcement that could boost regenerative agriculture practices in the US, while President Biden signed an executive order impacting cultivated meat. France’s Capagro launched a $200 million agrifoodtech fund, and animal-free cheese developments proliferated.

🇫🇷  Standing Ovation grabs €12 million ($12 million) Series A from PeakBridge & others. The startup makes animal-free casein, a critical protein for cheese and the cheese-making process. (TechCrunch)

🇫🇮 Onego Bio scoops €4.5 million ($4.5 million) from Business Finland for animal-free egg whites. The funding, coming on the heels of a €10 million ($10 million) raise, will accelerate product development. (Arctic Startup)

🇺🇸 PeakBridge leads $15 million raise for personalized nutrition startup InsideTracker. Series B funds will enable more R&D efforts, expand marketing, and support operations. (PR Newswire)

🇬🇧 Indie food marketplace DELLI raises £6.2 million ($7.2 million) from Balderton & HV Capital. Individuals and independent restaurants can sell food on DELLI through the “drop” model used by fashion brands. (UKTN)

🇭🇰 Hot-food vending machine startup Wada Bento snags $2.8 million pre-Series A round. Investors include Golden Resources Development Limited, Gravity Capital Partners and others. (TechNode Global)

🇺🇸 Biotech startup Prolific Machines emerges from stealth with $42 million in seed & Series A funds. It plans to drive down the cost of cultivated meat manufacturing via biotech and machine learning technologies. (AFN)

🇪🇸 Coffee startup GoodNews brews up €11 million ($10.9 million) for its coffee kiosk-meets-e-commerce concept. Desigual founder Thomas Meyer and Barlon Capital led the round, which will go towards European expansion. (Tech.eu)

🇨🇭 Cultivated Biosciences announces $1.3 million pre-seed round for its alt-dairy ingredients. FoodHack, Wingman Ventures, Big Idea Ventures, Blue Horizon and others participated in the round. (FoodHack Global)

🇫🇷  Nutropy secures €2 million ($2 million) to launch production of its animal-free cheese and milk products. Beast, Big Idea Ventures and Trellis Road led the financing. (Protein Report)

🇳🇴 Food waste software startup TotalCtrl receives investment from Newday. Funds will go towards accelerating company growth nationally and internationally. (Silicon Canals)

🇺🇸 Next Level Burger lands $20 million. The plant-based foods QSR will put the funding towards its goal of opening 1000 units across the US. (Nation’s Restaurant News)

🇩🇪 Plant-based egg startup Neggst bags €5 million ($5 million) for whole vegan eggs. Green Generation Fund led the seed round. (PitchBook)

🇺🇸 Gotham Greens lands $310 million in Series E funding to expand its greenhouse network around the US. BMO Impact Investment Fund and Ares Management led the round . (AFN)

🇦🇺 Lleaf raises $3.5 million to bring light-emitting plastics to indoor agriculture. Danish investment firms ALFA Ventures and 2 Degrees led the bridge round. (Startup Daily)

🇮🇳 Cold chain startup New Leaf Dynamic Technologies lands $900,000 in pre-Series A funding. Former Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s Good Ventures fund led the round. (VC Circle)

🇺🇸 Aqua-Yield closes $23 million Series A round for nanotechnology products that boost agricultural inputs. Larry H. Miller Company led the round, joined by Penny Newman Grain Company and JH Partners. (AFN)

🇺🇸 PepsiCo. & ADM partner on regenerative agriculture goals. The two companies are set to implement “climate-smart” agricultural practices on 2 million acres of US farmland by 2030. (Bloomberg)

🇺🇸 Wicked Kitchen acquires plant-based seafood brand Good Catch. The all-stock deal does not include Good Catch’s UK brand, which will remain part of Gathered Foods. (Food Dive)

🇨🇦 Walmart Canada & software company Focal Systems bringing AI to stores across the country. The system helps the mega-retailer detect low-stock or out-of-stock products in real time. (Progressive Grocer)

🇬🇧 LettUs Grow and fruit farmers Bardsley England partner to grow trees via indoor farming. The companies will trial apple tree whip propagation using the former’s aeroponic growing technology. (iGrow News)

🇺🇸 PowerPlant Partners unveils $330 million fund for growth-stage startups. The PPV Fund III will invest between $15 million and $40 million into health and sustainable food brands. (Vegconomist)

🇺🇸 United States Department of Agriculture awards $2.8 billion in cost-share grants for climate-smart ag. Over the next five years, 70 projects will provide technical and financial assistance to farmers implementing practices that reduce US ag’s carbon footprint. (Successful Farming)

🇲🇹 🇨🇭 PeakBridge VC & Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity complete first close of  PeakBridge Growth II. The fund has made  two investments in alternative protein technologies: Netherlands-based Rival Foods and France’s Standing Ovation. (AFN)

🇫🇷  Capagro launches the €200 million ($200 million) Capagro Agri-Food Innovation Fund II to support sustainable ag and health food startups. The fund’s first investment is €10 million ($10 million) in personalized nutrition startup Cuure. (Silicon Canals)

🇺🇸 In a win for cultivated meat, President Biden signs executive order to boost biotech. The new initiative aims to make the US a leader in biotechnology, including “cultivating alternative food sources.” (VegNews)

🇳🇱 The Regenerative Agriculture and Food Systems Summit faces protests, accusations of greenwashing. Protestors took issue with some of the event’s key sponsors including Nestle and Syngenta. (AFN)

🇺🇸 Plenty to invest $300 million into the “largest indoor vertical farming campus in the world.” Several large-scale vertical farms would produce 20 million-plus pounds of strawberries, leafy greens, tomatoes and other crops per year. (Food Dive)

🇨🇭 Switzerland may ban factory farming. The country will vote next week on an initiative that calls for the dignity of farm animals to be protected constitutionally. (Vegconomist)