Grab

AgriFood Signals: Danone buys protein maker Huel, Miraterra Soil bags $16m, Grab buys Food Panda Taiwan

AgFunderNews roundup of agrifood deal news: eleven startup funding rounds, Generate Capital selling Equinox Growers, executive appointments including a new FFAR board member, and other industry items.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia

Aussie-born fintech unicorn Airwallex to acquire Vietnamese payment company CTIN Pay

Airwallex has agreed to acquire Vietnamese payments company CTIN Pay and hired ex-Grab executive Ershad Ahamed as Head of Southeast Asia, following its completed purchase of Mexico's MexPago.

Also Fintech News Australia

Asian VC Sequoia India selects two Australian startups for its accelerator after rebrand and split from US

Peak XV, the former Sequoia India, has picked Relevance AI and Mercu for the ninth Surge cohort, while recalling earlier Australian investments including HealthEngine, Checkbox, Nugit and the collapsed delivery firm Voly.

The Week in AgriFoodTech: Paine Schwartz launches $1.7bn agrifood fund, Cricket One unveils new plant, Infarm ‘declared bankrupt’

Weekly agrifoodtech roundup: Paine Schwartz closes its $1.7bn food-and-ag fund; several seed and Series A rounds; Tangelo acquires Diet ID; Infarm declared bankrupt; layoffs and partnerships across the sector.

People Moves: Benson Hill CEO Matt Crisp out, new boss at McCormick, Clear Frontier expands team

AgFunderNews's monthly roundup of agrifood leadership changes: Benson Hill's CEO resigns, McCormick promotes Brendan Foley, Clear Frontier hires Charles Newton, plus other executive appointments, layoffs, and Karakuri's shutdown.

Former 'LinkedIn for blue collar workers' startup Sample rebrands and pivots for new $2.4 million Seed raise

Sample rebranded as Mercu, pivoting from a professional network for essential workers to employee engagement software for deskless staff, and raised a $2.4 million seed round with Sequoia Capital India returning alongside new backers.

Also Startup Daily

Investment Notes: Kula $12m Seed

Square Peg's Piruze Sabuncu explains the firm's seed investment in Kula, whose products help companies source and hire talent through employee networks, and profiles the recruiting backgrounds of founders Achu, Sath and Suman.

Experian A/NZ acquires Australian fintech Look Who's Charging to bolster open data offering

Experian's Australian and New Zealand arm has bought merchant-transaction clarification startup Look Who's Charging, aiming to build a leading open data platform as Open Banking rolls out.

Uber used secret spyware to try to crush Australian startup GoCatch

An ABC investigation reveals Uber deployed spyware from Sydney to scrape competitor data and poach drivers, aiming to destroy Australian rideshare rival GoCatch, whose backers included James Packer and Alex Turnbull.

This Indian startup just closed a $1.2 billion Series E round, backed by Didi and Grab

Indian hotel platform Oyo closed its Series E at $1.2 billion, with SoftBank leading, Didi Chuxing putting in $100 million and Grab just over US$100 million, valuing the company at $5 billion.

Hupo AI's $10M Series A Led by DST Global Partners

Sales-coaching AI startup Hupo has announced a $10 million Series A, with DST Global Partners leading and four earlier backers returning for the round.