Data snapshot is a regular AFN feature analyzing agrifoodtech market investment data provided by our parent company, AgFunder.
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Agrifoodtech investment in France surged 39% to $1.3 billion in 2022 against the backdrop of a 46% decline in Europe and a 44% slump in global agrifoodtech funding over the same period, according to AgFunder’s 2023 Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report.
The surge in funding catapulted France from #8 to #4 in the global pecking order in terms of funding by country in 2022, behind the UK (#3), India (#2), and the US (#1).
France also forged ahead of Germany, which netted $458 million in agrifoodtech investment in 2022, an 84% decline vs 2021.
Edible insects, on-demand DNA printing, insurance vs climate risk
The topline $1.3 billion figure was bolstered by a couple of mega deals in upstream categories: InnovaFeed’s $249 million Series D round to expand its edible insect operation, and DNA Script’s $200 million Series C round (2nd tranche) to expand its on-demand DNA printing operation.
However, the overall number of deals (71) was still up 6% in France, while the global agrifoodtech deal count declined by 19% in 2022.
The top 15 deals in agrifoodtech in France in 2022 were:
| Company | Category | Series | Amount |
| Innovafeed | Novel farming systems | D | $249 million |
| DNA Script | Ag biotechnology | C | $200 million |
| Descartes Underwriting | Ag marketplaces & fintech | B | $120 million |
| Not so Dark | Online restaurants & mealkits | B | $80 million |
| Agriconomie | Ag marketplaces & fintech | B | $60 million |
| ZenChef | In-store retail & restaurant technology | Late | $50 million |
| GOURMEY | Innovative food | A | $48 million |
| Snapshift (Combo) | In-store retail & restaurant technology | A | $45 million |
| HappyVore | Innovative food | A | $37 million |
| Naïo Technologies | Farm robotics & mechanization | B | $34 million |
| Umiami | Innovative food | A | $30 million |
| Umiami | Innovative food | A | $29 million |
| La Vie | Innovative food | A | $28 million |
| Outsight | Farm management software, sensing & IoT | B | $22 million |
| Neoplants | Ag biotechnology | Seed | $20 million |
Startups to watch
- Neoplants genetically engineers houseplants to absorb pollutants in the air.
- Lisaqua is building a land-based shrimp farm deploying patented technology combining shrimp, micro-organisms and marine invertebrates in a ‘permaquaculture’ system.
- Bon Vivant and Nutropy deploy precision fermentation to make ‘animal-free’ dairy proteins.
- Phagos develops bacteriophages as alternatives to antibiotics in animal agriculture in order to address the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. [Disclosure: AgFunder, AFN‘s parent company, is an investor in Phagos.]
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