FoodTech Newsletter

“The second wave of the Covid-19 has disrupted businesses across the globe. While some of the effects are short-term many will leave a long-lasting impact. However it has not stopped Venture Capital and private equity firms from cherry-picking opportunities and investing funds in Indian businesses endorsing the strength of the Indian entrepreneurial startups and businesses. .Between January to August this year private-held companies including startups have raised a whopping 28.35 billion of funding spread across 1367 deals according to Tracxn.Further COVID 19 did tweaked the investment interest for VCs investment in India. It created multifarious opportunities leveraging technology and digitization. Hence home delivery marketplace platforms and online shopping e-commerce have been attracting investments. Interest in staples & essentials like delivery of fresh foods groceries medicines etc. have grown significantly along with entertainment like online gaming and OTT. And this is only expected to increase with in the AIML deeptech space bringing in deeper insights through data analytics and geo tagging.India has seen innovation and growth across a number of companies which have gone on to attract funding including some of them emerging as Unicorns. Udaan Lenskart Zomato Swiggy PharmEasy Meesho Pine Labs Zeta Cred RazorPay HealthifyMe BYJUs Unacademy Eruditus Vedantu Dunzo Bira91 Boat Mamaearth MyGlamm Uniphore Software Systems Yellow.ai Entropik and many others.New markets are growing quickly far faster than existing ones and this rising tide can lift all boats. Some business-to-consumer (B2C) industries like edtech food delivery and e-commerce have seen a significant acceleration covering their projected growth over two-three years covered in a year Hence players in these segments have been raising capital to scale up even faster. The pandemic has changed how companies provide a taste of their products to shoppers a valuable practice that can boost long-term sales for a brand. Globally venture funding is heavily skewed toward late-stage online grocery deals followed by startups offering food-delivery apps and marketplaces such as Swiggy and GoJek. Some investors have realized that food tech is not just recession-proof but it is also black swan proof. Information on consumer shopping behaviors and new data capabilities has set the groundwork for a generation of food tech companies that can use data to predict consumer trends reduce food waste in production facilities and help consumers find products.The taste of consumers has wholly changed these days. With awareness towards healthy living increasing they are particular about what they want to eat. They are juggling hectic work and personal lives and demand convenience when it comes to their meals. But this convenience cannot come at the expense of quality. Now more than ever people want to know whats in their food where it comes from and how its production and sourcing impacts the environment.Spending trends show that consumers are willing to pay a premium for food tech innovations that can meet their ever-increasing needs of convenience health and low environmental impact. The opportunity for food innovators to capitalize on this market demand is growing. New business models emerged packed and frozen foods emerged rapidly even from dine-in kiosked food. Packaging itself innovated to ensure to retain the quality freshness and hygiene of food. All in all investments in food tech will continue to increase to help deliver on the promise of healthier and more sustainable food systems.“