36 Best Food Startups Serving Up Innovation

Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation, tech, and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the best food startups of 2023 that startup-lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow. 

Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.

• Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
• Founders: Adam Lahav, Eshchar Ben-Shitrit
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: Series Unknown, $170 Million
• Investors Include: Hanaco Venture Capital, Synthesis Capital, Happiness Capital

Tel Aviv startup Redefine Meat is doing just what its name implies. The innovative brand takes everyday products, like ground beef and burgers, and completely redefines them. Using 3D printers, they take plant products like soy and turn them into familiar dinner favorites. They currently have plans to expand their line into products like minute steak and beef skewers.

Discover more top startups in Israel.

• Location: Detroit, Michigan
• Founders: Brian Rudolph, Patrick Kiruki, Scott Rudolph
• Founded In: 2014
• Funding: Series B, $28.8 Million
• Investors Include: Prelude Growth Partners, Enlightened Hospitality Investments, Beechwood Capital

Pasta company Banza uses chickpeas to reinvent traditionally flour-based products like penne pasta, mac and cheese, and even pizza. The end product has more protein and fiber than typical pasta, and consumers praise the brand’s texture and flavor. Is it exactly the same as regular pasta? No. But for carb-lovers looking to eat a bit healthier, Banza is pure gold.

• Location: Richmond, Virginia
• Founders: Alexander Olesen, Graham Smith
• Founded In: 2017
• Funding: Series Unknown, $14.4 Million
• Investors Include: Center for Innovative Technology, Virginia Venture Partners

Babylon Micro-Farms doesn’t produce any food or beverages or even deliver them. Instead, the Virginia startup is taking the food world by storm through farming—micro-farming, to be exact. Babylon’s tiny farms allow you to grow fresh, delicious produce anywhere, from your garage to your living room. There is even an app that tells you what can be grown, how to do it, and when to harvest. 

• Location: Paris, France
• Founders: Charles Boes
• Founded In: 2015
• Funding: Series Unknown, $5.7 Million
• Investors Include: Demeter, Kima Ventures

Foodvisor is a free wellbeing app for IOS and Android. Users can photograph their meals, and the program uses deep learning to identify the food and give a nutritional breakdown. In addition, the app also estimates the food's weight by analyzing the distance between your plate and the phone using autofocus data. Users can set a goal, log activities, and monitor progress. 

• Location: Englewood, New Jersey
• Founders: Cindy Kasindorf, Henry Kasindorf
• Founded In: 2014
• Funding: N/A
• Investors Include: Chobani Food Incubator

New Jersey food startup Remedy Organics sells plant-based wellness shakes and immunity shots that “unleash your body’s natural healing power.” The drinks are organic, non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free. They each contain 8-14 grams of protein, and the keto line has zero added sugar. For consumers who want a complete reset, the brand also offers a 3-day Remedy Reset Program.

Feeling inspired? Learn how to launch your company with our guide on how to start a startup.

• Location: Zurich, Switzerland
• Founders: Tomas Turner
• Founded In: 2021
• Funding: Grant, $1.7 Million
• Investors Include: N/A

New kid on the block Cultivated Biosciences creates plant-based fats using fermented yeast. The fats address the textural issues often faced by traditional vegan products and can add creaminess to things such as dairy-free milk and yogurt. In addition to being tasty, the fats naturally have zero cholesterol and typically have a lower saturated level than comparable animal products. 

• Location: Lanham, Maryland
• Founders: Duane Myko
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: Series A, $6.3 Million
• Investors Include: CircleUp, Mark Cuban

Maryland-based startup Everything Legendary makes gluten-free, soy-free, plant-based food products. Featured on Shark Tank, the brand currently offers vegan burgers, cheeseburgers, and crumbles (wings and sausages are in the works). But with countless other meat alternatives on the market, what makes them different? A bevy of unique and tasty ingredients, including mango concentrate, orange peel, and ginger. 

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Keith Belling
• Founded In: 2017
• Funding: Series Unknown, $5.5 Million
• Investors Include: AccelFoods, Next Play Capital

Rice is something millions of people around the world eat every day, and RightRice is looking to put a healthy spin on the pantry staple. The California startup is changing the game with its vegetable-based rice alternative. Low in net carb and high in protein (and flavor), this is a product worth watching. 

• Location: London, United Kingdom
• Founders: Chris Wilson, Jamie Crummie
• Founded In: 2015
• Funding: Series A, $45.7 Million
• Investors Include: Blisce, VF Venture

Too Good to Go is an innovative food tech startup that provides an app for saving delicious food and fighting food waste. Their mission is simple – to ensure food gets eaten and isn’t wasted or thrown away needlessly every day. Instead of restaurants, hotels, manufacturers, shops, and cafes throwing away food, customers can buy and collect “Magic Bags” of food at a great price directly from these businesses.

• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Founders: Jared Cannon
• Founded In: 2016
• Funding: Series A, $3.3 Million
• Investors Include: Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban

Simply Good Jars is on a mission to help people make healthier choices by connecting local growers with consumers. With these jars, you can get chef-made and ready-to-eat meals that are healthy, good for you, and don’t contribute to pollution and plastic waste.

• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Founders: Christine de Wendel, Tigrane Seydoux, Victor Lugger
• Founded In: 2021
• Funding: Series A, $124 Million
• Investors Include: Coatue, DST Global, New Wave

Sunday is building a fully integrated solution for restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars, and hotels to allow customers to pay quickly with a QR code. By using their technology, restaurants can turn tables quicker, get more tips, save time and money, and increase average customer spending. 

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Ben Simon, Benjamin Chesler, Ron Clark
• Founded In: 2015
• Funding: Convertible Note, $229.1 Million
• Investors Include: Norwest Venture Partners, Hamilton Lane, Insight Partners

Imperfect Foods is striving to deliver groceries efficiently while eliminating food waste at the same time. All of their groceries are affordable, sustainably sourced, and delivered right to customers’ doorsteps. Their goal is to build a better food system for everyone, supporting farmers and producers in the process. The business model employed by imperfect foods has proven to be resilient over the past few years and is extremely agile even when supply chains are struggling. 

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Atallah Atallah, Christopher Miao, Ghazi Atallah
• Founded In: 2020
• Funding: Seed, $13.8 Million
• Investors Include: General Catalyst, Grishin Robotics

Club Feast is building a subscription-based delivery application for restaurants that allow for pre-scheduled food deliveries, catering to businesses and corporations. Their efficient business model allows them to deliver discounted restaurant meals to customers and keep everyone fed and happy. 

• Location: Ithaca, New York
• Founders: Jason Goodman, Ashton Yoon
• Founded In: 2017
• Funding: Grant, $1.8 Million
• Investors Include: N/A

Antithesis Foods is a food technology startup that’s trying to make processed foods healthier for everyone using food science. They’re developing low-calorie alternatives to classic ingredients found in crunch snacks, all based exclusively on legumes. If you can think of any type of crunchy food, Antithesis Foods is actively working to make it healthier.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Alon Salant, Georgina Bale, Rob Spiro
• Founded In: 2011
• Funding: Series D, $194.5 Million
• Investors Include: Glade Brook Capital Partners, DNS Capital, S2G Ventures

Good Eggs is on a mission to deliver high-quality groceries and meals by working with local farmers and producers. All of the food they source is locally grown and organic, and over 70% of the foods they sell comes from within a 250-mile radius. If anyone is looking for groceries, meal kits, and high-quality food that’s sourced with the highest standards in mind, then Good Eggs is the perfect solution. 

• Location: Berkeley, California
• Founders: Nicholas Genovese, Uma Valeti, William Clem
• Founded In: 2015
• Funding: Series C, $598 Million
• Investors Include: Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Temasek Holdings

Upside Foods is a food technology startup company that’s developing meat made directly from animal cells. With their technology, there’s no need to raise and then slaughter real farm animals, and it requires significantly fewer resources like land, water, and energy in order to do so.

• Location: London, United Kingdom
• Founders: Greg Orlowski, William Shu
• Founded In: 2012
• Funding: Post-IPO Equity, $1.7 Billion
• Investors Include: Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity Management, Research Company

Deliveroo is one of the most popular food delivery platforms in the United Kingdom, making it simple and easy for customers to order all their favorite foods directly from local restaurants. If anyone is craving a meal from their favorite restaurant and wants to have it delivered on the same day without any hassle, they would turn to Deliveroo to handle everything from scheduling the order to delivery directly into the customer’s home.

• Location: Redwood City, California
• Founders: Monte Casino, Patrick Brown
• Founded In: 2011
• Funding: Series H, $1.9 Billion
• Investors Include: Mirae Asset Global Investments, Coatue

Impossible Foods is a food tech company that’s working to develop plant-based substitutes for meat products, dairy products, and fish products. This is done by selecting specific nutrients and proteins from various seeds, greens, and grains in order to recreate the taste, texture, and experience that dairy products and meats offer.

Discover more Silicon Valley startups to watch.

• Location: Washington D.C.
• Founders: Eman Pahlavani, Shy Pahlevani
• Founded In: 2016
• Funding: Series Unknown, $60.2 Million
• Investors Include: Sands Capital Ventures, GP Ventures, The Heritage Fund

HUNGRY is a food tech catering startup working to deliver fresh food from chefs directly to customers in the most efficient way possible. Independent chefs now have the ability to get their food delivered to the catering market and find customers they wouldn’t otherwise be able to find without the HUNGRY platform.

• Location: Emeryville, California
• Founders: Adam Lowry, Neil Renninger
• Founded In: 2014
• Funding: Series E, $264 Million
• Investors Include: Rage Capital, Ajax Strategies, S2G Ventures

Ripple Foods is a company that produces non-dairy milk with half the sugar of regular milk and the same amount of protein per serving. Ripple has about eight times the amount of protein compared to almond milk, over 50% more bioavailable calcium than dairy milk, and is an excellent source of Omega-3s and potassium.

• Location: New York, New York
• Founders: Marc Lore
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: Series B, $850 Million
• Investors Include: Bain Capital Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Harmony Partners

Wonder offers a mobile restaurant platform people can use to order delicious food anytime, anywhere. By partnering with world-class chefs to put together exclusive and delicious menus, people can get a perfectly prepared meal prepared right outside of their doorstep and delivered in just a few minutes.

• Location: Atlanta, Georgia
• Founders: Jasmine Crowe
• Founded In: 2017
• Funding: Series Unknown, $12.3 Million
• Investors Include: Capital One Ventures, Atlanta Emerging Markets, Backstage Capital

Goodr is a startup that uses technology to combat hunger and reduce food waste. Essentially, they are building a sustainable food management platform that allows businesses to earn money from food waste by donating it to nonprofit organizations instead of disposing of it.

• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Founders: Eliott Kessas, Ross Mackay
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: Series C, $113.8 Million
• Investors Include: Founders Fund, D1 Capital Partners

Daring Foods is a food tech company that produces healthy plant-based chicken products that look, smell, and taste like the real thing. Their products are egg-free and dairy free, contain no palm oil, and include vegan meat products.

Explore more top startups in Los Angeles.

• Location: San Francisco, California
• Founders: Josh Balk, Josh Tetrick
• Founded In: 2011
• Funding: Series Unknown, $465 Million
• Investors Include: Qatar Investment Authority, KONTINUUM

Eat Just produces plant-based eggs intended to be a nutritious and healthy food alternative. Using cutting-edge technology and science, they can make eggs using protein from mung beans. All of their plant-based egg products are cholesterol free, don’t contain GMOs, and have just as much protein as many animal proteins have – all while looking, feeling, and tasting like real eggs!

• Location: Vancouver, Canada
• Founders: Dean Blignaut
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: Seed, $4.1 Million
• Investors Include: TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good

TMRW Foods is a Canadian food tech startup that's making plant-based proteins available to the masses. Their popular products include protein shreds, burgers, sausages, and breakfast patties that look, feel, and taste just like actual animal protein.

• Location: Newtown, Pennsylvania
• Founders: Chad Sarno, Eric Schnell, Marci Zaroff
• Founded In: 2016
• Funding: Series B, $77.1 Million
• Investors Include: Rocana Venture Partners, Louis Dreyfus Company

Good Catch is a startup that’s making plant-based seafood alternatives, including vegetarian fish patties, crab cakes, fish ticks, and shredded tuna. All of their fish patties are made from fava beans, chickpeas, and other various legumes and deliver that flaky, rich texture of seafood.

• Location: Chicago, Illinois
• Founders: Hanish Pahwa, Keval Raj
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: Seed, $5.3 Million
• Investors Include: JAM Fund, Great North Ventures

Quicklly is building an online marketplace that lets customers choose from a wide variety of Indian cuisines and groceries. When shopping in the marketplace, people can purchase fresh produce, tiffin, meal kits, groceries, ready-to-eat meals, roti kits, seasoning kits, gift boxes, and more.

Discover more top startups in Chicago.

• Location: Yoqne’am Illit, Israel
• Founders: Guy Polturak, Halim Jubran, Tal Zeltzer
• Founded In: 2018
• Funding: Series A, $20.1 Million
• Investors Include: DSM Venturing, Trendlines Group, Millenium Food-Tech

Phytolon is a food tech startup that’s revolutionizing the way we produce food coloring, bringing natural colors that are cost-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and high-quality. They can produce their innovative food coloring solutions by using fermentation and modern biotechnology.

• Location: Los Angeles, California
• Founders: Alejandra Rodriguez, Jennifer Parke
• Founded In: 2022
• Funding: Seed, $1 Million
• Investors Include: Marc Forster, Bob Pittman, Adam Venit, Scott Painter

Shroomboom is a brand new startup that’s bringing mushrooms to the world through its ecommerce marketplace. Founded by Alejandra Rodriguez and Jennifer Parke due to their passion for mushrooms, Shroomboom is entering a market that has been gaining tremendous interest and growing rapidly in recent years.

• Location: San Jose, California
• Founders: Seema Shenoy
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: Crowdfunding, $320,000
• Investors Include: Product Crowdfunding

Zero Knowledge is a certified minority woman-owned business that creates innovative products promoting healthy lifestyles and sustainability. The company's products — ZK Bar, Omnipan, and ZK Cube — are thoughtfully made and eco-friendly, reflecting founder Seema Shenoy's passion for healthy living and the environment. Additionally, the startup donates 10% of its profits to Climate Change Initiatives and Solutions.

• Location: Maastricht, The Netherlands
• Founders: Peter Verstrate
• Founded In: 2013
• Funding: Angel, $96 Million
• Investors Include: Blue Horizon Corporation, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rubio Impact Ventures

Mosa Meat is a food tech company that’s pioneering how beef is made and striving to create the “kindest” beef burgers of the future. Their meat is grown using the same natural processes found in the muscle growth of real cows and begins by taking a sesame-seed-sized cell sample and then nurturing it and naturally growing those cells into real beef.

• Location: Durango, Colorado
• Founders: Louise and Jane Barden
• Founded In: 2020
• Funding: N/A
• Investors Include: N/A

Farm to Summit is a food startup based out of Durango, Colorado, that produces dehydrated meals in sustainable packaging and small batches. To eat their dehydrated food, all you have to do is add hot water and then give it 15 to 25 minutes to prepare.

• Location: Brooklyn, New York
• Founders: Gabi Lewis, Greg Sewitz
• Founded In: 2019
• Funding: Series B, $120.8 Million
• Investors Include: HighPost Capital, Capital Constellation, Siddhi Capital

Magic Spoon is a food startup that produces low-carb cereal foods that are childlike and fun to eat, but for adults. All of their cereal products are keto-friendly, don’t contain any GMOs, and are free from grain, soy, gluten, and artificial sweeteners. By using a natural sweetener that’s found in maple syrup and figs, allulose, they are able to make a cereal that tastes great and has zero glycemic impact.

• Location: Helsinki, Finland
• Founders: Juha-Pekka Pitkänen, Pasi Vainikka
• Founded In: 2017
• Funding: Debt Financing, $42 Million
• Investors Include: Finnish Climate Fund, Business Finland, Fazer

Solar Foods is a food tech company that produces nutrient-rich protein using only electricity and air. As their motto goes, they are producing “Food Out of Thin Air” — all without burdening our planet and doing so in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly manner. Their goal is to liberate the planet from the various burdens of agriculture and help pioneer a new era of sustainable food production for everyone.

• Location: New York, New York
• Founders: Joe Ariel, Joel Gillman, Trevor Stow, Vanessa Torrivilla
• Founded In: 2012
• Funding: Series C, $133.1 Million
• Investors Include: Spectrum Equity, Enlightened Hospitality Investments, Intel Capital

Goldbelly is an online delivery platform that lets consumers purchase food from artisans and various specialty food makers with ease. For anyone who wants iconic local food products and the ability to choose from a variety of unique cuisines, Goldbelly lets customers quickly order and get their food delivered directly to their doorstep.

• Location: London, United Kingdom
• Founders: Saasha Celestial-One, Tessa Clarke
• Founded In: 2015
• Funding: Series B, $53.1 Million
• Investors Include: VNV Global, Rubio Impact Ventures, Octopus Ventures

Olio is building a food-sharing app that connects businesses, volunteers, and neighbors together. Instead of throwing away surplus food, Olio is a location-based app that allows people to list their unwanted food items and share them with others throughout their neighborhood.

Recommended: Check out our full list of the top startups to watch!

• Startup Ideas for Food Lovers
• Venture Capital Firms for Food Startups
• Hottest Food and Beverage Startups to Follow
• Innovative Food Tech Startups to Watch
• Fast-Growing Snack Food Startups to Watch
• Startups Addressing Food Waste and Hunger