Happy Year of the Ox to our friends around the world!

What a year 2020 turned out to be. Before we send off the rat and wave in the ox, we look back at a few milestones here at Bits x Bites in these eventful 12 months.

First close of our new fund: In November we announced a $30M first close of our new fund. Our new LPs include Temasek, Heritas Capital Management, CEO of Monde Nissin, also the company behind Quorn. Now we’re working with LPs on our final close this year with a target of $70M.

7 portfolios invested: In the months since our first close, we have backed 7 new portfolios including 4 follow-on investments and 3 new additions. We grew our investments in CRISPR gene editing company Tropic Biosciences; chickpea protein producer InnovoPro; low-GI carbohydrates solutions provider Alchemy Foodtech; and cellular agriculture company Future Meat Technologies. Amongst our new portfolios is Mojia Bio. The Chinese biomanufacturing company produces essential nutrients while addressing the environmental pollution in conventional synthesis and at a fraction of the cost.

We’ll share about other new investments in coming weeks.

Over $75M raised by 5 portfolios: Tropic Biosciences raised the biggest round in a $28.5M Series B led by Temasek. And just last week, Future Meat Technologies raised $26.75M led by a number of strategic partners including Tyson, ADM, Mueller and Rich’s. Congrats to our teams on their funding accomplishments!

Portfolios launched products, built key partnerships: InnovoPro has launched the first chickpea-based non-dairy yogurts in Europe. Tropic Biosciences has added BASF and animal health leader Genus to its partner rosters to advance gene editing. Future Meat Technologies has cut the production cost of cell-based chicken breast to $7.5. Alchemy FoodTech’s low-GI carbohydrate solution is now on the market.

Ecosystem continues to grow: Here in China, our agrifood tech community has expanded despite travel restrictions. Our China Food Tech Hub ecosystem is now 24-member strong and we regularly meet virtually to look at emerging Chinese and international companies. We are grateful to work with both upstream and downstream member companies including Yili, Nutreco, Givaudan, Ajinomoto, and more.

We are particularly proud of what our portfolio companies accomplished, despite all the challenges the year brought. In 2021, as COVID continues to play out, we expect the ground beneath continues to shift. We wish everyone a prosperous, remarkable year ahead as we all take the ox by its horn and address the opportunities before us.

*Sign up for Rethink World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit on March 9-10, 2021 and Future Food-Tech on March 11-12, 2021. Use the Bits x Bites discount code BXB10 for 10% off.