Failed Food & Beverage Startups
85 venture-backed food & beverage startups have shut down after raising $3.2B combined — about 4% of the entire graveyard. The biggest cohort last raised in 2022, and the most common final round was Seed.
Food startups combine thin margins, perishable inventory, and brutal logistics. Venture funding scaled many of them into exactly the cost structures that killed them.
The Damage, by the Numbers
$3.7M
Median raised before shutdown
$37.3M
Average raised — the big flameouts drag it up
5
Died holding $100M+ in funding
1
Raised $1B+ and still closed
Class of the crash
Closed food & beverage startups by year of their final funding round
17
34
25
6
2021
$274.9M
2022
$283.3M
2023
$2.6B
2024
$16.8M
How far they got
Last round raised before shutting down
Pre-Seed
6
Seed
37
Series A
7
Series C+
2
Post-IPO
5
Debt & Notes
6
Other
22
Based on the last five years of fundraising data tracked in the VCbacked database.
The Graveyard
Showing 100 of 85 closed startups
Company | Raised | Last Round | What They Did | Location | Founders | Site | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hostess Brands | $1.2B | Post-IPO | Hostess Brands is a packaged food company focused on developing, manufacturing, marketing, selling and distributing fresh baked sweet goods. | Lenexa, Kansas, United States | — | Reveal | |
AppHarvest | $792.3M | Post-IPO | AppHarvest is a sustainability company that operates and develops robust, climate-resilient indoor farms. | Morehead, Kentucky, United States | Jonathan Webb | Reveal | |
Sovos Brands | $294.0M | Post-IPO | Sovos Brands is a food and beverage company with various food brands. | Berkeley, California, United States | Todd Lachman | Reveal | |
Do Good Foods | $199.0M | Debt | Do Good Foods is a meat producer that upcycles surplus food from grocery stores and supermarkets | Bedminster, New Jersey, United States | Justin Kamine | Reveal | |
Iron Ox | $103.2M | Series C | Solving global climate through our food, grown renewably, using technology | San Carlos, California, United States | Brandon Alexander | Reveal | |
Mr Yum | $73.1M | Series A | Mr Yum is a mobile ordering platform that provides a visual menu and tool for table ordering, pickup, and delivery. | Collingwood, Victoria, Australia | Adrian Osman | Reveal | |
Calyxt | $72.3M | Post-IPO | Calyxt is an agbiotech company that focuses on developing healthier crops. | Minnesota City, Minnesota, United States | Dan Voytas | Reveal | |
SCiFi Foods | $38.7M | Series A | SCiFi Foods is racing to be the first to bring cultivated beef to market with an advanced synbio platform & cutting-edge tools like CRISPR. | San Francisco, California, United States | Jess Krieger | Reveal | |
Uncommon | $33.5M | Series A | Uncommon is about providing with that juicy, tender, and delicious meat they love but without harming their health, planet, and animals. | Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom | Benjamina Bollag | Reveal | |
New Age Meats | $32.0M | Series A | New Age Meats is a biotechnology company that develops healthy cultivated meat grown from animal cells instead of animal slaughter. | Berkeley, California, United States | Andra Necula | Reveal | |
Cana Technology | $30.0M | Seed | Consumer Electronics Beverage Technology | Emeryville, California, United States | Andrés Vargas | Reveal | |
Buymie | $19.2M | Venture | Buymie is an Ireland-based same-day grocery delivery company. | Dublin, Dublin, Ireland | Artavazd Sokhikyan | Reveal | |
Crave Hospitality Group | $16.4M | Seed | First Technology Platform that integrates kitchens, marketing, ordering and delivery logistics | Boise, Idaho, United States | Barry Werner | Reveal | |
WoodSpoon | $16.0M | Program | WoodSpoon is a food delivery service that offers on-demand, crafted foods made by home chefs and delivered to the diner. | New York, New York, United States | Lee Reshef | Reveal | |
The Small Robot Company | $13.2M | Note | The Small Robot Company is delivering per plant farming for the world's largest crops. | Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom | Ben Scott-Robinson | Reveal | |
FLOKI Technologies | $11.5M | Seed | Smart and Autonomous Procurement System for Fragmented Foodservice Retailers | São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil | Luigi Uliana Rodrigues | Reveal | |
Gastrograph | $11.1M | Venture | Gastrograph uses artificial intelligence to help companies predict and personalize flavor for new food products. | New York, New York, United States | Jason Cohen | Reveal | |
Nowadays | $10.5M | Seed | Nowadays is building the cheapest and most-scalable manufacturing platform for whole cuts of plant-based meat. | San Francisco, California, United States | Dominik Grabinski | Reveal | |
MegaBite Food | $9.5M | Seed | Multibrand cloud kitchen restaurant that operates premium gastronomic brands and sells them at midrange prices to middle class of LATAM. | Lima, Lima, Peru | Pedro Neira Ferrand | Reveal | |
MilkRun | $8.6M | Series A | MilkRun is an online marketplace and grocery delivery service that connects consumers and Chefs directly with hundreds of local farmers. | Portland, Oregon, United States | John Zeller | Reveal | |
Bellway | $8.2M | Venture | Bellway offers natural fiber supplements that promote healthy digestion and are made with organic ingredients and no sugar. | New York, New York, United States | Max Dresse | Reveal | |
Hier Foods | $7.9M | Program | Hier Foods is a foodtech startup that offers decentralized food systems for retailers and local suppliers. | Berlin, Berlin, Germany | Lara Hammerle | Reveal | |
6d bytes | $7.6M | Crowdfund | 6d bytes is a robotics startup that builds robotics systems to revolutionize the way of preparing and serving meals. | Sunnyvale, California, United States | Venki Ayalur | Reveal | |
Wise Apple | $7.1M | Venture | Wise Apple makes life easier by making lunch better - by delivering fresh, custom, ready-to-serve lunches and snacks directly to your door. | Chicago, Illinois, United States | Nathan Cooper | Reveal | |
Pinemelon | $7.0M | Venture | Vertically integrated farmers’ market + local-first online supermarket | Denver, Colorado, United States | Alexey Lee | Reveal | |
EasyBins | $6.7M | Seed | EasyBins is an online retail platform used to offer free grocery delivery. | Springdale, Arkansas, United States | James Farmer | Reveal | |
SPRK.global | $6.4M | Angel | SPRK is an AI-enabled distribution platform for connecting food oversupply with demand partners, including NGOs. | Berlin, Berlin, Germany | Alexander Piutti | Reveal | |
EV Biotech | $6.2M | Seed | EV Biotech specializes in developing microbial cell factories for industrial production of chemicals and proteins. | Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands | Linda Dijkshoorn | Reveal | |
Castiron | $6.0M | Seed | Castiron is an e-commerce company that helps independent cooks, bakers, and food artisans start, build, and grow their businesses. | Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | Mark Josephson | Reveal | |
BiSU | $5.7M | Venture | BiSU is a commission-free mobile platform that allows users to order, compare, and pay for bottled water. | Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey | Ergin Uner | Reveal | |
Main Street Data | $5.6M | Venture | Main Street Data is an ag-focused, data-driven product company that brings precise data science practices to agriculture. | Mission, Kansas, United States | Ronald LeMay | Reveal | |
Sophie's Kitchen | $5.6M | Venture | Sophie’s Kitchen® produces a line of delicious plant-based vegan seafood alternatives. | Dover, Delaware, United States | Miles Woodruff | Reveal | |
RA Ray's Deli & Supplies | $5.5M | Seed | Ray's Deli & Supplies is a food company. | Jackson, Wyoming, United States | — | — | Reveal |
FriesDAO | $5.4M | Seed | FriesDAO is a decentralized social experiment where a crypto community builds and governs a fast food franchise empire. | Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States | — | Reveal | |
Tebrito | $5.4M | Seed | Tebrito upscales residual food streams into sustainable nutrition solutions for plants, animals and humans. | Orsa, Dalarnas Lan, Sweden | Åsa Martén | Reveal | |
Hooray Foods | $5.2M | Seed | Hooray Foods produces plant-based meats offering consumers a vegan alternative to meat products. | San Francisco, California, United States | Sri Artham | Reveal | |
GoodGood | $5.1M | Seed | GoodGood is an online store that delivers a wide range of drinks, snacks, ice creams, wine, craft beers, and beverages. | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Kris Linney | Reveal | |
Orbillion Bio | $5.1M | Venture | Orbillion Bio produces meat from the highest quality, heritage animals. | Berkeley, California, United States | Gabriel L evesque-Tremblay | Reveal | |
DRNK Beverage | $4.8M | Corporate | DRNK Beverage offers low sugar mocktail or mixer option with a natural kick of caffeine. | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Suzette Ramcharan | Reveal | |
BEERMKR | $4.8M | Seed | BEERMKR is the world's first all-in-one beer-making machine that anyone can use. | Boulder, Colorado, United States | Aaron Walls | Reveal | |
All In Foods | $4.0M | Venture | All In Foods is a snack brand that focuses on providing craveable, organic bars created with quality ingredients | Culver City, California, United States | Ryan Devlin | Reveal | |
Noops | $4.0M | Seed | Noops is an omnichannel brand of better for you plant-based snacks | New York, New York, United States | Gregory Struck | Reveal | |
Nordic Umami Company | $3.7M | Seed | Developing all-embracing sustainable flavours to accelerate plant-based eating. | Espoo, Southern Finland, Finland | Outi Mäkinen | Reveal | |
OmniVis | $3.5M | Pre-Seed | Put the power of the lab in the palm of your hand | South San Francisco, California, United States | Jackie Linnes | Reveal | |
Merican Mule | $3.5M | Debt | Merican Mule is a premium craft cocktail brand that delivers convenient, bartender-quality mules. | Long Beach, California, United States | Dean Mahoney | Reveal | |
DeliRec | $3.4M | Seed | DeliRec created an app to be the social network of food lovers. | Rio De Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | — | Reveal | |
Yume Food Australia | $3.3M | Seed | Yume Food is a brand new marketplace | South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Katy Barfield | Reveal | |
Family Style | $3.2M | Venture | Family Style's enlightened kitchens produces chef-driven virtual restaurant concepts delivering convenience and crave-ability for consumers. | Santa Monica, California, United States | Lawrence Vavra | Reveal | |
Somm & DINR | $3.1M | Seed | SaaS, Wine, FoodTech, Pairing, Recommendation Engine, Marketplace, Experiences | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Jennifer Tkachuk-Tremblay Stasiewich | Reveal | |
CoLab | $3.0M | Seed | CoLab is an online food and beverage store that offers meals, fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, eggs, dairy, and dessert products. | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | — | Reveal | |
MEALLOGIX | $3.0M | Note | Premier automation software for the meal prep industry | San Diego, California, United States | Katarzyna Rozanna Wojniak | Reveal | |
Ninja Delivery | $2.8M | Seed | Ninja Delivery is an e-commerce website that provides delivery for foods, drinks, and household items. | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | — | Reveal | |
Keystone Brewing Group | $2.7M | Seed | Keystone Brewing Group is a distributor of heritage and innovation breweries, committed to supporting and fostering. | London, England, United Kingdom | — | Reveal | |
Parsly | $2.4M | Seed | Parsly is a reducing food waste and making companies in the food service industry more profitable by digitizing orderdata. | Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden | Leo Kia | Reveal | |
Willicroft | $2.1M | Pre-Seed | Willicroft, is an Amsterdam plant-based cheese producer. We produce planet-proof cheese for dairy cheese lovers. | Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands | — | Reveal | |
Day One Beverages | $2.0M | Venture | Day One Beverages is a refreshing sparkling CBD water that balances and renews. | Los Angeles, California, United States | Chris Alfieri | Reveal | |
PEF Technologies | $1.8M | Seed | PEF Technologies provides food and beverage preservation with nanosecond pulsed electric fields as the solution. | Arnhem, Gelderland, The Netherlands | Valeriy Mitko | Reveal | |
igetnow | $1.7M | Seed | igetnow is a software that allows ordering food and drinks from smartphones. | Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany | — | Reveal | |
Cognitiwe | $1.7M | Seed | Cognitiwe is a software company that offers fresh food retailers products to help analyze the stock levels and sales performance. | Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia | Attila Algan, Mete Bayrak | Reveal | |
Genius Juice | $1.6M | Crowdfund | Genius Juice is a food and beverages firm. It blends organic coconut meat and coconut water to make a creamy smoothie. | Torrance, California, United States | Alex Bayer | Reveal | |
Good Food Technologies | $1.5M | Seed | Good Food Technologies is a Hong Kong-based startup focused on innovative food R&D and manufacturing. | Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong | Andrew Leung | Reveal | |
Welldone | $1.5M | Series A | On our mission to change the way you eat. Bringing best plant protein science to create perfect burgers and mice. | Moscow, Moscow City, Russian Federation | Alexander Kiselev | Reveal | |
Flavers(formerly Cook My Grub) | $1.5M | Venture | Flavers online marketplace offers customers the choice of over 15 world cuisines, and 500+ dishes created by 100+ home chefs. | Maidenhead, Windsor and Maidenhead, United Kingdom | Dinesh Patil | Reveal | |
Global Ichiba | $1.4M | Series C | Global Ichiba is a wholesale company that procures, develops, and exports a wide range of agricultural products. | Higashi-shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan | — | Reveal | |
DishDivvy | $1.3M | Pre-Seed | DishDivvy is an online marketplace connecting approve private home cooks with hungry neighbors looking for homemade, wholesome food. | Los Angeles, California, United States | Ani Torosyan | Reveal | |
CA Cabin 3 | $1.3M | Seed | Cabin 3 is a restaurant company. | Bentonville, Arkansas, United States | — | — | Reveal |
AVEC | $1.3M | Crowdfund | AVEC is a beverage manufacture and retail company. | New York, New York, United States | Alexander Doman | Reveal | |
Little Cooks Co | $917K | Undisclosed | Little Cooks Co is a UK based company that offers subscription based, healthy cooking kits for kids. | London, England, United Kingdom | Helen Burgess | Reveal | |
Gaia's Farming Co. | $916K | Seed | Biotech startup utilising Mother Earth's most sustainable plant, hemp, for her environmental, health and material benefits. | London, England, United Kingdom | Michael Kyriakou | Reveal | |
ProteinRise | $908K | Seed | PROTEINrise is a platform for the development of plant-based food technologies. | Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland | — | Reveal | |
Revolution Gelato | $879K | Debt | Revolution Gelato produces organic gelato that delivers the decadent taste and creamy texture of dairy ice cream without the dairy. | Atlanta, Georgia, United States | Jared Olkin | Reveal | |
Beloit Kombucha Company | $800K | Seed | Beloit Kombucha Company provides the fermented vegetables that you're used to finding in a typical kombucha container. | Beloit, Wisconsin, United States | — | Reveal | |
Ding Dong | $727K | Seed | Ding Dong offers products from fresh fruits and veggies to drinks, and all come in only 10 minutes to the door. | Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden | Anders Carlsarv | Reveal | |
ShadowKitchen | $589K | Note | Future food court. 100% virtual and getting everyone what they want. | Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland | Elias Riihelä | Reveal | |
Molecule Holdings | $550K | Post-IPO | Molecule Holdings is a craft-focused cannabis beverage production company. | Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada | Amy Proulx | Reveal | |
Moveable Feast | $550K | Seed | Moveable Feast provides food designed for 4, 8, or 12 people. | Napa, California, United States | John Stubbs | Reveal | |
Ani Energy | $500K | Seed | Ani Energy produces an energy drink that is constructed with vitamins and caffeine from green coffee beans to promote all-day energy. | Carmel, Indiana, United States | Bryce Hall | Reveal | |
mereat. | $475K | Pre-Seed | Get paid to dine out. | London, England, United Kingdom | Darius Pommier | Reveal | |
Yoconut Dairy Free | $475K | Pre-Seed | Yoconut Dairy Free is the gut health innovator in dairy alternatives, translating cutting-edge science into a sublime creamy coconut yogurt. | San Francisco, California, United States | Bonnie Lau | Reveal | |
Hoff & Pepper | $454K | Crowdfund | Hoff & Pepper is an e-store and retailer of a wide variety and flavored seasoning salts, ketchup, barbeque, and hot sauce products. | Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States | Michelle Kimbrell Hoffman | Reveal | |
Arroces La Bomba | $438K | Seed | Arroces La Bomba offers Bistrot rice dishes for restaurant and hotels. | Madrid, Madrid, Spain | — | Reveal | |
Veggi | $364K | Crowdfund | Veggi is the first vegan delivery platform in Brazil. | Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil | — | Reveal | |
Bebida na Porta | $306K | Angel | Bebida na Porta is a Brazilian startup that provides on-demand beverage delivery services. | Pinheiros, Sao Paulo, Brazil | — | Reveal | |
Bevpax Corp | $250K | Series A | Beverage Manufacturer and Brand Innovation | Wilmington, Delaware, United States | Tim Xenos | Reveal | |
APPERT | $250K | Pre-Seed | Food-tech company striving to lead the charge towards revolutionizing the current food paradigm to become more convenient and sustainable. | Oakland, California, United States | — | Reveal |
More From the Graveyard
Frequently Asked Questions
How many food & beverage startups have failed?
The VCbacked Startup Graveyard currently tracks 85 venture-backed food & beverage startups that have shut down, collectively raising $3.2B before closing. That is roughly 4 percent of all closed companies in the database, which is based on the last five years of fundraising data.
What is the biggest food & beverage startup failure?
By total capital raised, the largest food & beverage failure in the database is Hostess Brands, which raised $1.2B before shutting down.
Why do food & beverage startups fail?
Food startups combine thin margins, perishable inventory, and brutal logistics. Venture funding scaled many of them into exactly the cost structures that killed them. Across the dataset, the most common last round before shutdown in food & beverage was Seed, and the largest cohort of failures last raised in 2022.
Can I contact founders of failed food & beverage startups?
Founder names are shown free on this page for every closed food & beverage company. VCbacked paid plans reveal verified founder contact details where available and unlock CSV export.