VCs Love Future FoodTech But Just Not When Women Are Behind It

Scott Mathias
4 days ago
2 min read

In Israel’s booming future FoodTech sector, where everything from lab-grown tuna to AI-designed proteins is being cooked up, women are doing more than their fair share of the heavy lifting. But when it comes to funding? They’re still getting crumbs.

Despite women leading nearly one-third of Israeli FoodTech startups, they attract just 4% of total sector investment. Globally, the stat drops to 2.1%. It’s not a pipeline problem, it’s a power dynamic, and the imbalance is costing the sector some of its best ideas.

Source: Various - Top Left - Racheli Vizman - Dr. Tali Feldman Sivan - Maya Ashkenazi Otmazgin - Daphna Heffetz - Dr. Maya Sapir-Mir and Dr. Raya Liberman-Aloni

Take Racheli Vizman, co-founder of SavorEat, whose 3D-printed, plant-based meals are made to order, the kind of tech investors drool over. Or Maya Ashkenazi Otmazgin of MAOLAC, developing bioactive proteins inspired by breast milk to supercharge functional foods.

Daphna Heffetz, leading Wanda Fish, is growing cultivated bluefin tuna without the ocean. It’s sustainable, scalable, and scientifically sound, just not, apparently, enough to break through the glass wallet. Meanwhile, Dr. Tali Feldman Sivan is reengineering plant-based meat at Meala FoodTech to ditch the industry’s over processed binders in favour of clean-label functionality.

And then there’s PoLoPo, led by Dr. Maya Sapir-Mir and Dr. Raya Liberman-Aloni, producing real egg and dairy proteins from genetically engineered potatoes. It’s high-tech molecular farming, with no barnyard in sight.

Still, the capital flows elsewhere.

That’s why the Modern Agriculture Foundation is calling for nominations for its Leading Women in Israeli FoodTech award to shine a spotlight where the funding often doesn’t.

Nominate now.

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