2025年三季度食品科技风险投资趋势（英）2025

EMERGING TECH RESEARCH Foodtech VC Trends VC activity across the foodtech ecosystem Contents Foodtech landscape3 Institutional Research Group Quarterly analysis4 Analysis Key takeaways4 Alex FrederickLead Research Analyst, Agri-foodtechalex.frederick@pitchbook.com VC activity5 Conclusions7 Ben RiccioAssociate Research Analystben.riccio@pitchbook.com Foodtech VC deal summary22 Data Harrison WaldockData Analyst pbinstitutionalresearch@pitchbook.com Publishing Report designed byJenna O’Malley,Megan Woodard,andChloe Ladwig Published on November 26, 2025 Foodtechlandscape Restaurant techAlt-proteinsBioengineered foodsConsumer foodtechE-commerceFood production For the complete Foodtech taxonomy andcompany list,click hereto see the marketmap on the PitchBook Platform. Quarterly analysis Key takeaways •Flight to quality defined the quarter as late-stage VC median valuations surged 28.4% YoY andearly-stage VC median valuations collapsed by 52.4%, creating a bifurcated market that rewardsproven execution while repricing unproven concepts. •Restaurant tech platform dominance persisted despite sector headwinds, with 33 dealstotaling $1.6 billion, demonstrating continued investor conviction in operational software andautonomous systems. •Cultivated meat investment virtually ceased despite regulatory progress, with only $8.2 millionacross three deals, suggesting investor skepticism about commercialization timelines andcapital intensity. •IPO activity disappeared entirely, with zero Q3 foodtech public offerings, confirming that manylate-stage food companies have not generated the scale and growth to exit via public offering inthe current environment. Executive summary Q3 2025 foodtech VC totaled $2.8 billion across 148 deals (down 44.6% YoY), with extremeconcentration in proven winners. Wonder Group’s $1.1 billion mega-round represented 40.1% ofcapital, while the top 20 deals captured 78%, establishing Q3 as a mega-round quarter despitedeclining long-term mega-round frequency. Late-stage VC dominated with $2.6 billion across 110 deals (92.7% of capital). Restaurant tech led at 56.7% ($1.6 billion), followed by e-commerceat 18.7%, alternative proteins (alt-proteins) at 11.7%, and food production at 8.3%. Exit activitycollapsed to 14 transactions, as most startups lacked IPO scale and strategic acquirers demandedprofitability, forcing companies toward secondary transactions and debt financing. The quarter revealed structural market bifurcation: Early-stage VC deal sizes surged 21.2%YoY, while median valuations collapsed 52.4% to $7.5 million as investors deployed largerchecks. Pre-seed/seed valuations fell 12.8% to $7.8 million, while late-stage VC surged 28.4%to $29.4 million, creating a “squeezed hourglass,” where Series A-C winners capture outsizedcapital, seed companies face pressure to reduce burn and extend runways, and mega-roundsrequire exceptional fundamentals. This bifurcation will persist through 2026, demanding thatfounders accept greater dilution for equivalent capital and accelerate traction demonstrationsbetween rounds. VC activity VC deal counts Q3 2025 showed dramatic stage-level divergence from YTD patterns. While YTD distributionwas balanced across late-stage VC (51.3%), early-stage VC (18.5%), pre-seed/seed (17.7%),and venture growth (12.5%) across 530 deals, Q3’s 148 deals concentrated capital in late-stagewinners. Late-stage VC secured $2.6 billion (92.7% of Q3 capital) across 110 deals—far exceedingthe YTD 51.3% proportion—while early-stage VC and seed combined captured only $207 million(7.3% of Q3 capital), down from $525 million in Q3 2024. Restaurant tech led with 33 deals totaling $1.6 billion—compared with 46 deals and $558 millionin Q3 2024—but displayed extreme stratification. Ghost kitchen operations, with just four deals,captured $1.2 billion (71.5% of restaurant tech capital) through Wonder Group’s dominance, whiledelivery robots (three deals) secured $292 million through Nuro’s $200 million Series E downround and others. Sales & operations tech showed broader distribution across 22 deals totaling$130.3 million at a $5.9 million median. Median deal sizes reinforced this bifurcation. Early-stage VC grew 21.2% YoY, as high-performingSeries A companies secured larger rounds, and late-stage VC increased 13.6% YoY; however, pre-seed/seed collapsed 29.4% YoY and venture growth plummeted 59% YoY. With mega-rounds($100 million-plus rounds) representing just three of the 148 deals, investors deployed smallerseed checks, applied stricter traction filters for Series A eligibility, and abandoned mega-roundformation entirely. This represents fundamental market discipline: Seed funding compressed toextend runways, Series A-C companies with clear metrics captured outsized capital, and late-stage valuations lost mega-round appeal as public market comparables constrained pricing power. E-commerce demonstrated a healthier breadth with 48 deals (versus 79 in Q3 2024), led