May 5, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Japanese trading giant Marubeni has invested in KitchenTown, a Silicon Valley-based food startup incubator – providing backing that will support KitchenTown’s consulting and incubation operations, along with Japanese startups working to enter the U.S. market, and U.S. startups expanding into Asia. 

“Startups drive the growth of the global economy as they break the mold of conventional wisdom and create new value,” said Takanori Koso, general manager of food products materials department for  Marubeni. “In order for these startups to achieve maximum impact, they need support to overcome hurdles in product development, commercialization, brand strategy and more.”

“Incubators are a proven model to efficiently provide resources, expertise, and support to early-stage ventures. Our investment in KitchenTown will expand access to these services and reach even more food and food tech companies in both the U.S. and Japan, in order to lead to positive food systems impacts.”

Founded in 2014, KitchenTown provides startups with the resources and knowledge needed to develop, commercialize, and launch a broad spectrum of food and food tech ventures and innovations. 

Toward this end, KitchenTown also provides production space for R&D and small-scale manufacturing, including a newly opened lab and pilot facility located in San Francisco for the commercialization of alternative proteins. 

Enhancing this support is KitchenTown’s broad client base including legacy companies in need of innovation and corporate venture groups seeking advice on food tech investment opportunities. 

“Within the food industry, global challenges such as climate change, nutrition and health inequities are driving entrepreneurs to create a new generation of more sustainable, accessible, and healthy foods,” said Rusty Schwartz, CEO of KitchenTown.

“Consumers are also increasingly aware of these issues and demanding responsible action from food companies. With Marubeni’s investment, we will be better capitalized and positioned to enable innovators to make a difference.”

What Marubeni brings to the table is invaluable. In business for more than 160 years, the company is one of Japan’s largest trading companies and is active across multiple sectors including import/export, lifestyle, food, agribusiness, forest products, metals and mineral resources, energy, infrastructure, finance, leasing and real estate, construction, mobility, and next-generation business development. 

But KitchenTown is already aware of what Marunbeni can provide as a partner. The two companies first collaborated in 2021 to develop, commercialize, and launch a new product. The success of that project turned a lens on the strategic opportunity that existed through continued collaboration. 

Now, this agreement brings together Marubeni’s global network and KitchenTown’s specialized experience and knowledge of the development of food startups, creating a venture to realize business and social impacts by supporting food and food tech innovators developing solutions through the application of technology. 

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

*The content put forth by Global AgInvesting News and its parent company HighQuest Partners is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. All information or other material herein is not to be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Global AgInvesting and HighQuest Partners are not a fiduciary in any manner, and the reader assumes the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content on this site.