Data: Asian start-ups led charge in foodtech investment for 2021

  • 6 January 2022
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Dealroom.co data reveals Asian foodtech firms raised $16bn of $41.5bn global 12-month investment total

Data platform Dealroom.co has reported that Asian start-ups raised the most capital via foodtech investment in 2021. Companies across the continent secured $16 billion during the 12-month period, while US and European companies raised $14 billion and $9 billion respectively.

According to the data, investment in the food industry reached $41.5 billion in 2021, including Pre-seed and later-stage investments of over $250 million.

Delivery and logistics companies accounted for 73% of all capital raised in Europe last year, while the global figure was 43%. Late-stage investments dominated, making up 44.8% of all foodtech funding in 2021.

Dealroom said up to $131 million had been invested into Pre-seed rounds, while $803 million worth of investment had funded Seed raises.

Unsurprisingly, venture capital dominated foodtech investment with VCs accounting for $25.1 billion of the overall total in 2021.

The Dealroom data also reported $318 million of foodtech investment has already been raised by eight start-ups in the first six days of 2022.

The latest deals include a $120 million round by Israeli precision fermentation start-up ReMilk led by Hanaco Ventures.

Precision fermentation was a leading category for foodtech investment in 2021, data from industry advisory Food Strategy Associates revealed last year.