“Israel is definitely the foodtech hub of the world”

“Israel is definitely the FoodTech hub of the world,” said Managing Partner at RePlate Ventures Chanan Schneider during Calcalist and Sufersal’s Food Waste and Sustainability conference in Tel Aviv last week. “We see that investment per capita in Israel is by far more than in any other country in the world. We are second to the United States and almost three times more than any other country.”

Founded in 2023, RePlate Ventures is a venture capital fund that specializes in early-growth foodtech investments. “We are investing only in companies that are after the technology hurdle, meaning that they have a product, they have a business model, and they want to take it to the market,” Schneider added. “There are no venture capital funds in Israel that are doing that. This is why I think it's essential for Israel to have this kind of venture capital fund.

“The whole food industry is in disruption. They are looking to find more and more new ingredients, more and more new methods of how to produce food and they want to eat healthier. So there is huge investment in foodtech and all the big companies are coming to Israel in order to learn from us how to bring technology into their production lines.”

Regarding areas of interest within the foodtech sector, Schneider said that there are a variety of emerging trends worth taking note of. “Alternative protein is something that we all invested in,” Schneider added. “We are also looking at sustainability, shelf-life, and how to reduce waste on one end, and on the other hand how to do something with waste.”

You can watch the full interview in the video above.