Agtech Funding Sheet: Startups Raise Nearly $130m in 2 Weeks

Soylent, the meal replacement drink, has raised $50 million in Series B funding in a round led by GV (Google Ventures) and joined by another new investor, family office Tao Capital Partners. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Lerer Hippeau Ventures also participated. The round brings Soylent’s total funding to $74.5 million and is a little surprising considering the setbacks the startup has faced including reports of illness after consuming the drink and bars, as well as a very recent recall on the product for containing some milk, despite advertising otherwise. But sales are still strong, according to TechCrunch.

THYMOX, a botanically-derived disinfectant for animal health and crop protection, has raised $4.6 million in Series B funding from new and existing investors Cycle Capital Management, Desjardins Innovatech, and Germain Benoit.

Dodla Dairy, a Hyderabad, India-based milk production company, shares were sold for $50 million to the $2 billion Rise Fund, the social impact fund from private equity giant TPG’s Growth platform. Some reports indicate the stake was purchased from Proterra Investment Partners, part of the spun out investment arm of Cargill, Black River. Proterra owned around a 25% stake in the business.

Propel, a startup that helps food stamp recipients manage their benefits, has raised $4 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, the Omidyar Network, the Durant Company and SciFi VC. Existing investors Jay Borenstein, WinWin and the Financial Solutions Lab at the Center for Financial Services Innovation also participated. Find out more here.

Hectare Agritech Ltd, the company behind Graindex and SellMyLivestock, the UK’s only online crop and livestock marketplace, has raised £500k ($644k) from Richard Koch. Koch is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and management strategist. The round follows Hectare’s crowdfunding round last year that attracted investment from UK tennis pro Andy Murray.

Smart Earth Seeds, a vertically-integrated plant breeding company developing high-omega meal and oil products derived from its proprietary camelina genetics platform, has raised $300k from Ag-West Bio, Saskatchewan’s bioscience industry association. The deal is subject to investment from others up to $2 million.

And previously covered on AgFunderNews…

Territory, the prepared food delivery service headquartered in Washington DC, raised $6.7 million in Series A funding from the new St Louis-based food and agtech venture capital firm Lewis & Clark Ventures, NRV, a Richmond, Virginia-based firm, Motley Fool Holdings and Upfront Ventures. Read more here.

Calysta, a California-based sustainable fish and livestock feed innovator, raised a $40 million Series D funding round, led by Mitsui & Co and Temasek. Existing investors also joined the round including Cargill, the Municipal Employee Retirement System (MERS) of Michigan, Aqua-Spark, Walden Riverwood Ventures, and Pangaea Ventures. Read more here.

Taranis, an Israeli precision agriculture intelligence platform, completed a $7.5 million Series A round led by Finistere Ventures, and Vertex Ventures. Existing investors, Eshbol Investments, Mindset Ventures, OurCrowd, and angel investor Eyal Gura, also joined the round. Read more here.

Abundant Robotics, a robotics and automation startup, has raised $10 million in Series A funding in a round led by GV (Google Ventures). BayWa joined the round with Tellus Partners and existing investors Yamaha Motor Ventures, KPCB Edge, and Comet Labs.

Ceres Imaging, the aerial imagery and analytics company, raised a $5 million Series A round of funding led by Romulus Capital. Read more here.