Agtech Funding Sheet: Gene-editing, Food Waste, Insects, Algae, Impact, Biotech, Farmland, more

Spoiler Alert, a startup helping food businesses and farms manage their unsold produce, closed a $2.5 million seed round with sustainable ag investment firm Fresh Source Capital, multi-industry seed stage investor LaunchCapital, the Fink Family Foundation, early-stage food and ag funder Valley Oak Investments, farm-to-table innovation funders FTW Ventures, and Campbells Soup’s Acre Venture Partners. Watch out for our interview with investors on AgFunderNews.

Recombinetics, the animal science and biotechnology firm, has raised $11 million in equity capital as it nears the commercialization of its gene-edited traits for livestock. The company’s equity, offered at $5 per share, was oversubscribed by investors, according to a press release. To date, Recombinetics has raised over $24 million in private investments.

Algama, a French foodtech company, aiming to create sustainable food products from microalgae, raised $3.76 million in a round led by Horizons Ventures. Other undisclosed investors participated in the round, as well. Read more about the funding and the many ways that algae is finding new and diversified uses in our recent story.

TracMap, a New Zealand GPS fertilizer proof-of-placement company, completed an investment round with Genesis Private Equity, an investment firm focusing on New Zealand’s startups. It claims to be the largest provider of GPS technology to the agricultural sector in New Zealand.

WeFarm, a startup helping smallholder farmers in Africa and Latin America share information via SMS and online, raised a $1.6 million seed round with LocalGlobe, a UK-based venture impact firm focusing on seed stage ventures.

Benson Hill Biosystems, a computational biology and ag genetics startup, received a grant from the National Corn Growers Association to open up its trait discovery platform to other innovators. Read more about the funding and what the partners hope to accomplish here.

Homestead Capital, a fund manager investing in and improving farmland in the US, has completed the final close of its second fund on its hard cap of $400 million. This exceeds the original fundraising target of $350 million.

Midgard Insect Farm, a Canadian operation raising insects for human and animal consumption, won $45k at the 2016 Spark West Innovation Challenge to expand the company’s production capacity at its current facility in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The award follows the recent sale of a 48% stake in the business to Dane Creek Capital, an Ontario-based investment firm focused on the pet industry.

Have news or tips? Email [email protected]