Friday Foodtech Digest: Animal-free fat, bee-free honey & fish-free fish get backing

Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures and CSIRO-affiliated Main Sequence Ventures invested in the Canberra-based startup, which is using bacteria to produce fats and oils for use in alt-protein products. ( TechCrunch ) Li’s business in addition invested in AlgiKnit’s $2.4 million bridge round (United States) . The New York startup is making biodegradable yarns from seaweed in an effort to replace synthetic materials such as nylon. ( Green Queen Media ) Food testing startup Allergy Amulet raises $4.1 million seed financing (United States) . Madison, Wisconsin-based startup has developed a handheld sensing device to test food for allergens.

AllerFund and Lightship Capital were among the shareholders to join the round. ( Wisconsin Inno ) Meat producer Hanegal states it’ll be 85% plant-based by 2030 (Denmark) . The company — best known for its bacon and sausages — of late crowdfunded a plant-based test kitchen and bought plant-based ready meal maker Fairdig . ( Vegconomist ) Bluu Biosciences raises $8.25 million seed financing for cell-cultured fish (Germany) . The startup is working on cellular versions of freshwater food fish including carp, salmon, and trout.

Manta Ray Ventures, Norrsken VC, Be8, CPT Capital, and Lever VC were among the backers to take part in the round. ( TechCrunch ) Deep Branch banks $9.41 million Series A financing for CO2-to-protein platform (United Kingdom) . Novo Holdings, DSM Venturing, and Barclays were among those to invest in the Nottingham-based startup, which is creating animal feed from waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen. (Deep Branch) Vegan fried chicken name VFC scores $3.4 million seed backing (United Kingdom) .

The startup, which offloads its products in the UK and Spain, received funding from Veg Capital and Johnson Resolutions. ( FoodBev ) Ag marketplace Waycool raises $20 million from existing backers (India) . The Chennai-based startup helps producers sell their produce to grocers, restaurants, and other retailers. ( Entrackr ) ‘Shelf-stable’ plant-based meat maker Deliciou gets seed funding (Australia) .

US-based Stray Dog Capital led the round, with participation from former McKinsey Australia and New Zealand managing director Adam Levis, former Blackmores Asia managing director Peter Osborne, and Aconex co-founders Leigh Jasper and Rob Phillpot. (Stray Dog Capital) Pulmuone makes move into plant-based protein (South Korea) . Over the next few years, the Seoul-based food giant will launch over 20 plant-based protein products in three categories: high protein, low-carb vegan, and meat analogs. (Pulmuone) Israeli venture builder OurCrowd partners US’s Waterfund to invest in water-focussed and agtech startups (Israel/US) . Waterfund is committing $50 million to the vehicle, which made its first investment in Californian vertical farming startup Plenty . ( NoCamels ) MeliBio raises $850,000 seed backing to make bee-less honey (United States) .

Backed by investors such as Big Idea Ventures, Joyance Partners, and Sparklabs Cultiv8, the Berkeley, California-based startup is producing a plant-based honey analog.