Vori, an AI grocery startup, lands $22M to help independent stores. Independent grocery stores are turning to artificial intelligence to stay competitive, as one startup secures new funding to help retailers modernize operations and compete with industry leaders Walmart and Amazon, Fortune reports. How Vori raised capital. San Francisco-based grocery technology company Vori has raised $22 million in a Series B funding round led by Cherryrock Capital, the venture capital firm founded by former TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot. Existing investors Greylock Partners and The Factory, the venture fund launched by Stanford University AI researcher Chris Ré, also participated in the round. The investment comes as independent grocers face mounting pressure from large retailers with sophisticated supply chains and technology platforms. Vori said it will use the new capital to expand its AI-powered operating system, which automates inventory management, ordering, pricing, supplier invoices, and payments for grocery stores that still rely on fragmented or manual processes. The opportunity is significant. The U.S. food retail industry generates roughly $1.5 trillion annually and includes more than 45,000 supermarkets. While Walmart and Amazon control about one-quarter of the grocery market, Vori is focused on serving independent and regional retailers that make up the remaining share. Founder and CEO Brandon Hill said the company's mission is personal. A third-generation grocer, Hill said the idea for Vori emerged after visiting his parents' grocery business in 2020 and discovering the store still depended on paper invoices and wholesale catalogs to manage daily operations. Why getting in the game matters. Since launching its platform in January 2024, the company said it has processed more than $500 million in payments across 55 U.S. cities while serving more than 1 million consumers. According to Hill, payments account for roughly 60% to 70% of Vori's revenue, allowing the company to keep software and hardware costs lower for retailers. Beyond streamlining operations, Hill said the platform addresses another challenge facing independent grocers: labor shortages. The grocery industry continues to contend with approximately 39% store-level employee turnover, increasing demand for technology that reduces repetitive administrative work. "It's not about eliminating jobs," Hill told the outlet. "It's about, how do you fill gaps so you don't have to spend 60 to 70 percent of your time moving data from left to right?" Brown-Philpot said grocery retail has historically attracted less technology investment because of its operational complexity. Unlike restaurants, supermarkets often manage between 50,000 and 100,000 individual products, making inventory management and purchasing significantly more difficult to automate. Hill said Vori expects to increase its growth sevenfold in 2026 and again in 2027 as it expands its footprint among independent grocers. Ultimately, he hopes the company's technology will help preserve competition in an industry increasingly dominated by national chains. "We need to protect the heterogeneity and the biodiversity of our food ecosystem," Hill said. Ohio black. Facebook-f Twitter Youtube

Mars rover laser technology. PLUS: $6 million for nootropic drinks. May 08, 2026 The US military has officially entered its fermentation era. Californian startup Biosphere has landed a $9 million Department of Defense grant to develop portable bioreactors that can turn "air, water and energy" into protein-rich meals for soldiers in remote environments. Forget farm-to-table; this is cloud-to-chow. And yes, there's irony here. While the Trump administration continues its public love affair with meat, the Pentagon is quietly betting big on alternative proteins and biomanufacturing. Why? Because in an era of climate shocks, geopolitical instability and fragile supply chains, food resilience has become a national security issue. The future of food may not be won in supermarkets first... but on the front lines. Courtesy of Biosphere This week in FoodTech: Amsterdam bans ads for meat, flights, and more | MicroHarvest is rolling out low-carbon pet food | Meatly's set to build Europe's largest cultivated meat facility The digest. Credit: Robert vant Hoenderdaal/Alamy/Vitalii Kraskovskyi/Green Queen 🇳🇱 Amsterdam has become the world's first capital city to ban public advertising for meat and fossil fuel-related products - including burgers, flights and petrol cars - across billboards, public transport and other city-owned spaces. US lawmakers have reintroduced the FAIR Labels Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill backed by the cattle industry that would tighten labeling rules for plant-based and cultivated meat products by banning terms such as "plant-based ground beef" and requiring clearer descriptions like "plant-based alternative protein product" alongside disclaimers that the products are not derived from live animals. The US House of Representatives has passed the 2026 Farm Bill with provisions that could override state animal welfare laws, a move critics say would weaken states' ability to enforce higher farm animal welfare standards by preventing them from restricting the sale of products based on how animals are raised in other states. New in funding. Credit: Vori San Francisco-based Vori secured $22 million in a Series B funding round led by Cherryrock Capital, with participation from Greylock Partners and The Factory, to expand its AI-powered operating system that helps independent supermarkets manage payments, inventory, pricing and supplier orders more efficiently. Austrian hydration brand Waterdrop received an €11 million investment from Croatia's Atlantic Grupa to expand its global business selling sugar-free "Microdrink" cubes that flavour water with fruit and plant extracts. UK-based Meatly raised £10 million Series A funding from existing backers such as Agronomics, and first-time investors Oyster Bay Venture Capital, Clean Growth Fund, and JamJar Investments, to build Europe's largest cultivated meat facility in London. Jesse & Ben's, a frozen food startup based in the US, raised a $10 million Series A led by Greycroft, with participation from Rich Products Ventures, Willow Growth Partners, Sling Ventures, Midnight Venture Partners and grt sht ventures, to expand its seed-oil-free frozen french fry business nationwide. US biotech Biosphere secured $9 million from the US Department of Defense and US Army DEVCOM Soldier Center to develop portable bioreactors that turn gases into protein for military rations, with the funding supporting the creation of field-deployable food production systems for remote and logistically challenging environments. Functional drinks and supplements brand Neutonic, based in the UK, raised $6 million to expand its nootropics-focused beverage business across UK and US retail markets, and enter Australia. UK-based crop biostimulant startup SugaROx raised £2.5 million from The Mosaic Company to commercialise its trehalose-6-phosphate-based crop treatment technology, which is designed to improve crop yields and quality by helping plants move nutrients more efficiently. Israeli startup PhenOlives secured a $270,000 investment from OurCrowd to scale its patented process that converts olive pomace into sustainable olive flour and polyphenol ingredients, with the funds also supporting further R&D into blackwater-derived ingredients. Denmark's Decameal closed an undisclosed seed round from Delphinus Venture Capital, Rockstart and strategic co-investor Aller Aqua to scale its patent-pending process that converts invasive shore crabs into sustainable protein and lipid feed ingredients. US-based Fudi Protein secured early-stage funding led by Green Boy Group to commercialise its alfalfa-derived Rubisco protein, designed to replace egg whites and dairy proteins in food products. New in startups. Credit: Cellular Agriculture Australia/LinkedIn/Green Queen Australian precision fermentation startup Eden Brew secured US GRAS status for its animal-free casein protein and is shifting its focus towards products targeting sports nutrition, healthy ageing and nutrient delivery. US agtech TerraBlaster is targeting a late 2026 launch for its tractor-pulled soil sensor system that uses Mars rover-inspired laser technology to map nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium levels in real time at tractor speed, designed to help farmers reduce fertiliser use, cut costs and improve crop yields through more precise application. Germany's MicroHarvest is set to roll out 15 new low-carbon pet food products made with its waste-upcycled microbial protein by the end of June, with partners including Hey Bones, Vetura, and AniAma. A US judge has dismissed Finnish startup Onego Bio's patent lawsuit against California-based The EVERY Company in Wisconsin on jurisdictional grounds, in an ongoing dispute over precision-fermented egg proteins and competing claims around foundational intellectual property for animal-free ovalbumin production. Plant-Based. Credit: Flora Food Group US private equity firm KKR is exploring a potential $10 billion sale of Netherlands-based Flora Food Group, the former Unilever spreads business behind brands including Flora, Violife and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, following a broader slowdown in the plant-based sector. Canada's Phytokana Ingredients secured around $450 million in long-term customer contracts ahead of launching its Alberta faba protein facility, which will produce faba protein concentrates and high-protein flours for food and beverage manufacturers. Oatly launched what it says is the UK's first plant-based cold foam for cafés and bars, introducing a shelf-stable oat-based topping designed for iced coffees and speciality drinks that can be customised with flavours and used with standard frothing equipment. UK-based Met Foods unveiled MushUs, a lightly sparkling vegan collagen drink designed to support beauty and gut health by combining plant-based collagen peptides, probiotics and tremella mushroom. Big food. Credit: Oterra Denmark-based natural food colour company Oterra has partnered with US biotech firm Debut Biotechnology in a multi-million-dollar agreement to develop and scale a natural alternative to synthetic Red 40 food dye for use across food and beverage products. PepsiCo signed a 10-year renewable energy agreement with Norway's Statkraft to source wind power from a project in Spain that is expected to cut around 32,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually across its European operations and supply chain. What did you think of today's round up? Got a news story to share? Hit reply. Until next time - Stay Hungry