The State of European
Foodtech 2022
December 2022
Design done Numbers updated
The State of
European Foodtech
2023
January 2023 Design done Numbers updated
Global startup & venture capital
The first VC in Europe focused on innovative
intelligence platform.
consumer-facing food companies.
Dealroom.co is the foremost data provider on startup, early-stage
We back Food Tech entrepreneurs for a healthier, more and growth company ecosystems in Europe and around the globe.
sustainable and more efficient food system.
Five Season Ventures is the first VC fund in Europe solelyFounded in Amsterdam in 2013, we now work with many of the
focused on investing in innovative consumer food companies.world;s most prominent investors, entrepreneurs and government
organizations to provide transparency, analysis and insights on
venture capital activity.
*Exited
Page / 2 Design doneNumbers updated
Previous reports:
Foodtech startups and
venture capital – Q3 2022
Foodtech startups and
venture capital – Q2 2022
The State of European Foodtech 2021
To read the report Foodtech startups and
Deliveroo: An incredible ride to IPO
Venture Capital - Q3 2022, click hereThe State of European Foodtech 2018
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The State of European Foodtech 2019 Design to complete Numbers updated
Following a record 2021, European foodtech startups funding has slowed down in 2022.
Yet, the European ecosystem appears to be holding up better than other key industries.
The combined enterprise value of EuropeanInvestment in foodtech is stable excluding the M&A activity is holding on, while IPOs have
foodtech companies is $185 billion.food delivery segment. all frozen.
This marks a 8% decrease since the end of 2021. European foodtech startups raised $5.6B in VC 2022 saw fewer European foodtech exits than 2021,
The slight drop is driven by public foodtech funding in 2022, down from $9.8B in 2021. The biggest 93 vs. 85. M&A activity remained stable. But plans to
differentiators were food delivery vs. everything else,
startups. Market value of public companies hasgo public have been largely put on hold amid public
and B2B vs. B2C foodtech. Food delivery funding fell
decreased by 35%. Yet, Market volatility has not 64% year on year while there was slight growth for market turmoil for tech companies. There were only
fully impacted private companies, which grew by everything else. B2C foodtech funding was down two European foodtech IPOs last year, the fewest
34% in 2022. 56%, while B2B grew 9% year on year.since 2018.
Combined enterprise value, European foodtechEuropean foodtech VC investment by year Number of exits by year
▊IPOs and SPACs ▊ M&A
$200B 8583
$185B
$9.8B 93
85
$5.6B
85 83
8 2
8
2
2017 2022 2017 2022 2017 2022
Page / 4 Source: Dealroom.co. The investment framework has changed, but that’s not
necessarily a bad thing as it will benefit the higher quality
“ businesses and more tenacious founders. Back to normal.
“Looking back at 2022, the foodtech ecosystem has shown once again its resilience. While valuations of public foodtech companies
have decreased in value by 35% since their peak in 2021, private foodtech companies valuations grew almost by the same quantum
(page 8 of this report). From an investment standpoint and if we exclude food delivery, foodtech is the only vertical sector, with real
estate, that attracted more capital in 2022 than in 2021 (page 10 of this report). This shift away from funding quick delivery models to
Ivan Farnetibusinesses with stronger unit economics is probably the main change that happened in 2022 and that we expect to continue in 2023.
General Partner
& co-founder at “On top of this, investors are more and more disciplined when it comes to valuations and deal terms. On the one hand, due diligence
Five Seasons Ventures processes are more thorough and take longer, while accelerated “fomo” decisions have all but disappeared. Downside protection
provisions are reappearing in many deals and for internal re-financing rounds (most of the activity in Q4) we see 1x liquidation
preference not being the default standard anymore. Also we are observing the rise or the “puzzle” rounds, where the target amount
raised by the company is obtained by many smaller tickets, invested by existing investors (leading the round) and a few new investors
completing the picture.
Eléonore Lafonta
Senior Associate at
Five Seasons Ventures
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