Big Idea Ventures Acquires Food Tech Investment Platform Vevolution

Food tech investor Big Idea Ventures has acquired the assets of Vevolution, a digital platform that connects investors with startups in the future food space.

VC firm Big Idea Ventures (BIV) has purchased the assets of London-based food tech investment platform and marketplace Vevolution.

The terms of the transaction were undisclosed, but it aims to boost BIV’s global infrastructure and support the broader startup and innovation ecosystem across climate and agrifood tech, future materials, and sustainable artificial intelligence (AI).

It marks the second exit in a month for two of Vevolution’s co-founders, Damien Clarkson and Judy Nadel, who sold their vegan pet food brand The Pack to premium manufacturer Prefera Petfood in a deal announced in early May.

“Today marks a major milestone for Vevolution. We’re excited for the platform’s new chapter with Big Idea Ventures, a great partner to boost its global reach and assist more startups and investors,” they said in a joint statement with Michiel van Deursen, who joined as co-founder in 2020.

Acquisition follows rapid expansion for Vevolution

Clarkson and Nadel founded Vevolution in 2017 as a media and events platform for alternative protein and future food businesses. It evolved into a global investment hub in 2020 after van Deursen, a tech entrepreneur and investor who founded VC firm Capital V, came on board.

Headed by CEO Erik Amundson and CTO Tristan Hartman, the company says it has facilitated over $60M worth of investments in a range of companies across the globe, including bee-free honey player MeliBio, cell-cultured milk startup Opalia, precision-fermented dairy protein firms De Novo Foodlabs and Fermify, and plant-based meat maker Shaka Harry.

Vevolution raised $330,000 in funding from Capital V, Kale United and Cult Food Science in 2022, when it hosted over 3,000 users on its platform. It has since expanded, serving over 8,000 users today, including 2,200 startups and 1,000 investors.

“As we build ecosystems in key regions around the world, Vevolution will be a powerful platform to support innovation and collaboration – across agrifood tech, climate tech, biotech, and other key sectors in the bioeconomy,” said Andrew D Ive, founder and managing general partner of BIV.

The development comes amid increased M&A activity in the alternative protein sector. In the US, Wicked Kitchen, Nuggs, and Blackbird Foods were all taken over by Ahimsa Companies last year, while vegan cheesemaker Vertage was purchased by Misha’s Inc this January. And earlier this month, dairy giant Danone bought dairy-free kids nutrition brand Kate Farms.

In the UK, meanwhile, vegan ready meal startup Allplants’s assets were bought by Grubby and Plants – the latter is owned by the founders of Deliciously Ella, which itself was sold to Hero Group in a multimillion-pound deal last year.

Big Idea Ventures prioritising scale-up technologies

Having been around since 2018, BIV calls itself the “most active food tech investor” in the world, managing upwards of $150M with over 150 portfolio companies across several verticals.

In the alternative protein field, it has invested in the likes of MeliBio, DeNovo Foodlabs, and Opalia, as well as whole-food innovators Actual Veggies and Karana, cultivated foie gras maker Gourmey, vegan fat startup Lypid, and fermentation-derived seafood firm Aqua Cultured Foods.

The VC firm said it would use its global expertise to expand Vevolution’s reach and impact via strategic partnerships, positioning the acquisition as a key step in its drive to build infrastructure for large-scale innovation.

“Our mission is to support entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. We believe bringing together the global innovation ecosystem is essential to supporting the breakthrough solutions the world needs,” said Ive.

The acquisition comes amid a dire funding landscape for alternative proteins. Investors continued to lose confidence in this sector last year, with plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated meat companies receiving 27% less VC money. The broader climate tech landscape also saw venture funding dip by 38% in 2024 (from $52B to $32B), as investor focus moved to AI.

Speaking to Green Queen in February, Ive highlighted three areas that BIV will be keeping an eye on this year: food and biology, agriculture and nature, and food production and waste utilisation tech.

One major focus he outlined was scale-up technology, which “presents challenges that require innovative solutions and approaches”. This was a key driver of its acquisition of Vevolution too.

“Investors have been supporting remarkable future food companies across various sectors, discovering what’s possible with cutting-edge technologies,” he explained. “The next focus is scaling these technologies to benefit the food system sustainably.”