DigitalFoodLab has released its seventh annual report on the State of European FoodTech. Investment in the sector has once again declined — a 35 per cent decrease from 2022 and 56 from 2021 when investments reached their peak.
Europe’s foodtech has been lucky compared to other regions; globally, investment in the sector has halved. As a consequence, Europe’s standing increased; it now accounts for 32 per cent of worldwide foodtech investments, up from only 14 per cent in 2020.
Interestingly, less money has translated to more deals of smaller sizes. This indicates that early-stage foodtech startups will have an easier time raising simply because of their reduced risk to investors, who don't want to commit to Series B or C rounds.
When comparing nations’ relative ecosystems, DigitalFoodLab found that those most badly affected depended on a single startup, often a delivery company. However, competition in the delivery space appears to be lucrative; Germany, which is home to many small grocery delivery startups, outperformed every other European country. Delivery investments on the whole are in decline, and instability among delivery startups accounted for much of the consternation surrounding foodtech in 2023.
A notable uptick in investment was observed in agtech (bioinputs and farm management) and in food science (alternative proteins and new brands).
Data was collected from Britain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden and attended to the delivery, supply chain, agtech, food science and consumer tech verticals.
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