Foodtech: A Conscious Industry On the Rise

Foodtech is a blanket term of food sciences that aim to effectivize and develop innovative solutions for food growth, cultivation, production, distribution, and processing. Since the industry’s infancy from Nicolas Appert’s food preservation process, Foodtech has grown with sustainability in mind and investments on the rise.

“We need to feed billions of people and the population is growing. So it’s important to invest in various aspects of Food Technology such as nutrition and food processing in order to create a sustainable future.” says Federico Gomez, Programme Director of the MSc in Food Technology and Nutrition at Lund University.

A Region of Innovation

With strong ties between academia, research and business: innovation runs through the veins of Southern Sweden. For the eighth year in a row, Sweden ranks as the number one innovation leader by the European Innovation Scoreboard, and Southern Sweden is highlighted as one of the most innovative regions in Europe.

“The Öresund region is a region of innovation with a high degree of industrialization and support from the State. Innovative ideas and new things are constantly coming out.” says Federico Gomez, Programme Director of the MSc in Food Technology and Nutrition at Lund University.

Considering that 26% of the country’s national agricultural revenues originates in Skåne, perhaps it doesn’t come as a surprise that Southern Sweden and the Öresund region are becoming a hub for Foodtech innovation. So, let’s convert regional innovation into five quantifiable examples of Foodtech startups based in Southern Sweden:

Oatly AB

With their mission to improve the wellbeing of individuals and the planet alike, Oatly AB produces oat-based products enriched with enzymes that turn Swedish oats into nutritious food. Sprung out of research conducted at Lund University by Professor Rickard Öste, Oatly production and development center in Landskrona and has expanded their products to over 20 countries around the world.

Innoscentia

Innoscentia AB reduces food waste through the production of a cheap bacteria sensor that analyzes a product’s shelf life. The accuracy is due to the sensor’s ability to detect the presence of volatile food components that indicate food degradation. Innoscentia was founded by Erik Lindberg and Robin Thiberg in 2015, and has since received funding from Vinnova and LU Innovation as well as won numerous awards such as the EAT-Forum Global Innovation Award in 2016.

Doktorhonung

At the crossroads between Foodtech and Biotech, you’ll find the producer of Swedish super honey: Doktorhonung. As the direct result of research carried out at Lund University by Tobias Olofsson and Alexandra Vásquez, Doktorhunung has unlocked the secret to keep  13 lactic acids bacteria, which previously couldn’t survive outside of the beehive, active in their Swedish raw honey. Their products, H13, has a plethora of health benefits that helps with digestion and to fight harmful bacteria. Doktorhonung is owned by the Swedish biotech company ConCellae AB.

Local Food Nodes

Local Food Nodes has a mission: to make food local again. As an extension of an experiment carried out by Bygdens Saluhall and a Vinnova-financed pre-study, Local Food Nodes promotes local agricultural and economic development by directly linking produce between customers and local food producers through a digital tool. With the help if the platform, customers are presented with an array of local food that they can book and later pick up at designated sites.

Sensefarm

The Lund-based company Sensefarm AB develops tech products which allows precision farming by measuring soil moisture, precipitation and temperature of produce and plants. It all started with the development of sensors to prevent sugar beets from freezing damage, and has since grown to encompass a plethora of crucial factors for the wellbeing of produce.

Honorable mentions:

Simris Alg: The company produces algae-based food supplements and is located in Southern Sweden, but didn’t make the list due to its status as a publicly listed company.

Näraffär / Wheelys: Originating from Höganäs, the Swedish digital self-service store Näraffär has recently been purchased by Lund founded Wheelys.

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Established in 2014, Simris Alg has previously raised SEK 68 million in external venture capital. In connection with the IPO, the company will bring in additional SEK 50 million through issuing of shares. Currently company value is estimated at 125 million SEK.

“We want to get a big spread of ownership in the company. Our goal is to expand the facility and get additional growth capacity and to release more capital to larger sales and marketing,” – says Frederica Gullfot to Breakit.

Australia and Southe Korea are the two big markets that Simris Alg is currently looking into.

Through subscription commitments are guaranteed issue approximately 20 percent over existing shareholders including FV Group, owned by Rolf Karlsson (the man behind the national taxi organization Fågelviks Group) and the Animal Rights and Christian Ash, founder of gymkedjan Fitness 24/7.

“We already have 141 partners in the company, so the IPO has been an obvious way to go,” – says Frederica Gullfot.

First day of trading on First North will be April 22 and the price is set at SEK 18.50

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“We want to gather the startup community in one place for an evening, giving you the chance to meet and network with the extensive and fantastic community we have.” says Gabriella Olsson, co-organiser.

The agenda included Frederika Gullfot from SimrisAlg, the founders of Leadwizards and multiple of short community introductions. But overall an evening where people get a chance to meet other driven entrepreneurs.

Currently the venue, at Malmö Live, has been upgraded from 200 to 450 people. The initial 200 tickets went the within 24 hours, and now further tickets have been released.

“It is really great to see such an interest in the event. We will this proves that there has been a need for something like this in Skåne, an event organised by the startup scene itself.” says Joel Larsson, co-organiser.

If you want to secure your ticket, get one here.

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The company began its construction of the current greenhouse in January and will start building a secon greenhouse adjacent to the first in the autumn. The expansion will cost about 50 million SEK, most of which will come out of loans, and be complimented by the money from investors.

Frederika Gullfot sees this 11 million as simply the start of more finances to come. She aims to look towards international investors for the next money batch:

“We are looking for international institutional capital. There are more funds abroad who liked to invest in our type of business and there is a completely seperate interest for startups developing new foods.”

So what’s the next step? Gullfot expects it will be releasing their products, which include a unique version of Omega-3 and a new line of dietary supplements based on algae, on the market for consumers to lap up.

A Bit about the Business

Simris Alg was founded by Fredrika Gullfot in 2011 and has since acquired SEK 37 million in venture capital. Earlier investors included the likes of Christian Ash, owner of gym-chain Fitness 24 Seven. He even participated in the more recent round, and is one of the company’s ten biggest shareholders.

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The six startups that made the list are:

• Anolytech
• Avidicare
• Mapillary
• Simris Alg
• Sol Voltaics
• TrialBee

Last years winners were Neo Technology, Zaplox, Sol Voltaics, Anolytech and Trialbee. Three of those kept their places, but Zaplox and Neo Technology are no longer on it. Why that is we do not know, but from Zaplox going strong with the latest news where about big orders and large collaborations, and the guys at Neo are moving even further into the U.S. market.

Newcomers on the list

New on the list are Mapillary, an ambitious startup by veterans from Neo, PolarRose and Apple – aiming to do what Google has done with streetview but enabling it everywhere. You can read an interview with Jan Erik Solem that we have done earlier here.

Also new is Simris Alg, a company that aims to take food production to a new level, using specialised algea, that recently announced a new round of € 1.3 M funding.

And the third newcomer on the list is Avidicare, a MedTech startup that works with air-contamination in healthcare.

If you want to know more about the other startups, you can do that here: Anolytech, Sol Voltaics and Trialbee.

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