Investors

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: What are investors looking for in food- and agri-tech?

17-Jul-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Between climate change’s negative impact on food production and ongoing supply chain challenges that threaten access to high quality nutrition, ensuring the growing population has enough to eat without further compromising the planet’s health will require...

Exclusive: Rabobank’s Foodbytes launches more inclusive connection hub to solve today’s top food, agriculture challenges

08-Feb-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Rabobank’s powerful matchmaking and once-exclusive innovation arm Foodbytes is opening access for all global startups, corporates and investors to its forward-looking insights, industry analysis and support for vetted emerging businesses with this week’s...

Former KIND executives launch Camino Partners to help emerging brands chart their own growth path

24-Jan-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

A new start-up incubator and investment platform from the team that helped KIND climb from concept to a $5b business with only $5m in primary investment is throwing out the tried-and-true playbooks for growing a brand in favor of focusing on the values...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Village Capital seeks to ‘create FOMO among investors’ around women led businesses

08-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

To mark International Women’s Day today, March 8, organizers are asking participants to “choose to challenge” and call out gender bias and inequality with the hope that from challenge will come change – something that women entrepreneurs desperately need...

Investing in the Future of Food: Foodbevy connects startups, industry players to close wealth, network gap

06-Jan-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

When launching a business, founders often are asked to rely on friends, family and their community for financial support and guidance until they have proof of concept – but not all networks are created equally and entrepreneurs without affluent or influential...

Offering experiences, sense of community opens door for brands to expand during pandemic

04-Nov-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Brands’ acquisition and retention of new customers – and investors – increasingly hinges on their ability to provide experiences and a sense of community that can help relieve customers’ emotional strain due to limited contact with others during the drawn-out...

Investors, brands look beyond finished plant-based meats to supporting ingredients, technology

25-Sep-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

As plant-based protein gains acceptance with mainstream consumers, manufacturers and investors are looking beyond the flash of new brands to consider the needs – and marketing opportunities – around services and ingredients that support increased production...

Investments in grocery CPG, food delivery increase despite lingering economic uncertainty

22-Sep-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Venture capitalists’ initial hesitancy to enter new deals immediately following the coronavirus outbreak appears to be easing with the most interest and activity focused on grocery CPGs and food delivery, according to an analyst with Pitchbook.

Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference

CPG companies strategize how to maintain new consumers, market share as pandemic sales normalize

10-Sep-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

As record high sales from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic level out at rates significantly lower than March and April but still higher than last year, CPG companies are trying to reassure investors that they can hold on to new customers and...

Webinar on demand: Investors expect more for less from entrepreneurs fundraising, but are open to new deals

06-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Despite uncertainties about the pandemic, investors continue to fund food and beverage businesses, but they are more closely scrutinizing opportunities, holding entrepreneurs to higher standards and offering less for more than they did before the coronavirus...

Discover fundraising, brand building strategies during upcoming Unlocking Innovation webinar July 30

16-Jul-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The food and beverage industry has been a tale of two cities since the coronavirus pandemic was declared with some companies seeing surging sales reinforced by fresh rounds of high-dollar investments and other businesses grinding to a halt with both revenue...

Entrepreneurs share how industry, investors can make good on promises to ‘do better,’ support anti-racism

18-Jun-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

With only 1% of venture capital going to Black led or founded companies last year, investors are being asked to finance more Black entrepreneurs as part of the anti-racism movement sweeping America, but to do so, the founder of TeaSquares advises, they...

Investing in the Future of Food: Patent protection is an essential first step ahead of fundraising

10-Jun-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The high cost and opaque process of securing patents can be daunting for cash-strapped startups, but the CEO of the home hydroponic growing system GroPod advises entrepreneurs not give into the temptation to skip or delay this step until after fundraising.

Online platform Brandjectory is ‘like Facebook for young brands & investors’ in natural products space

09-Jun-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Even before the coronavirus pandemic paused face-to-face meetings and tradeshows, startups that couldn’t afford the high entrance fees to some of the food and beverage industry’s most prominent shows struggled to catch and keep investors’ attention –...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Navigating coronavirus’ uneven impact to chart a path forward for groceries

04-May-2020 By Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Navigating coronavirus’ uneven impact to chart a path forward for groceries

While some food and beverage brands have enjoyed tremendous growth following the coronavirus outbreak, others have been completely "pummeled" by government and consumer response to the virus – revealing a division that could provide a road map...

CompanyFirst talks startup investment strategy: 'I actually tell people raise less, and do it more incrementally'

13-Mar-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Startups looking for capital to fuel their next phase of growth may find there's a gap in the market for investors who are willing to write smaller checks, says Jason Starr, founder and managing director of Chicago-based investment firm CompanyFirst....