Louisa Burwood-Taylor, Author at AgFunderNews

Louisa Burwood-Taylor

Louisa is editor of AgFunderNews, with a background in foodtech, agriculture and financial journalism. Please get in touch at [email protected] or follow her on twitter @iamlbt.

Brief: Ginkgo Bioworks buys Zymergen for $300m

July 26, 2022

Zymergen will be acquired by fellow cell manufacturing company Ginkgo Bioworks for $300m, a sharp fall from Zymergen’s once $3 billion valuation.

John Kempf’s innovation-forward regen ag business Advancing Eco Agriculture raises $4.7m

April 12, 2022

If you’ve met John Kempf you’ll remember. He’s on a mission to transition 80% of the world’s farms to regenerative agriculture by 2040.

EXCLUSIVE: Shell, Merck Animal Health back regenerative agtech Vence for carbon & traceability capabilities

March 16, 2022

The corporates were attracted by Vence’s regenerative ag and sustainability credentials, according to CEO Frank Wootten.

EXCLUSIVE: Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Nash join forces on new climate change documentary

February 14, 2022

As Michael Nash prepares to start filming Climate Refugees 2, we caught up with him and Leonardo DiCaprio’s father George to discuss his novel approach to covering the climate crisis that the DiCaprios are executive producing.

Bowery’s KKR-led $150m credit facility may hint at robust business model, industry inflection point

January 20, 2022

The timing of KKR’s vote of confidence is particularly interesting as concerns mount about the future of some vertical farms, but Bowery CEO Irving Fain says it’s a positive inflection point for the industry.

Brief: Infarm raises $200m Series D from Qatar sovereign fund, others at $1bn+ valuation

December 16, 2021

Infarm is doubling down on its Growing Centres with a target to have 100 across 20 countries by 2030. The Qatar Investment Authority will work with it to build the emirate’s first Growing Centre by 2023.

UPDATE: Bayer inks new digital ag data infrastructure deal with Microsoft: how significant is it?

November 19, 2021

It’s the norm for journalists to be skeptical of corporate partnering announcements. But am I reading too much into this one?

FBN’s $300m Series G with Fidelity, ADM brings ‘validation’ to oft-controversial company

November 18, 2021

An ADM spokesperson told AFN that it was “the first major food and ag company to have been invited to invest in FBN.”

COP26 produced a ‘yoyo of feelings’ about agrifood’s climate role

November 11, 2021

The overwhelming feedback from COP26 has been one of mixed emotions as delegates tried to grapple with announcements and figure out their impact on agrifood.

Prince Charles’ ode to private markets at COP26 was a clarion call for agtech

November 3, 2021

If this is really is our “last, best chance,” the UK royal’s well-researched and well-grounded approach is worth taking seriously.

Future Food 🎙️: Soylent CEO on shift towards middle America & the future of plant-based

October 28, 2021

Soylent meal replacement drinks, reportedly beloved of some entrepreneurs and VCs, have proven somewhat controversial in the podcast’s ‘hot or not’ rounds.

FYTO: The startup growing protein with robots to decarbonize agriculture

October 14, 2021

The US startup is growing a plant that can help to reduce the carbon footprint of animal agriculture and become a new ingredient for alt-proteins.

EXCLUSIVE: CarbonSpace raises $1m seed funding to measure carbon footprint of food & forestry

October 12, 2021

The Ireland-based startup says it offers a more scalable and accurate way of measuring the carbon footprint of the agriculture and forestry industries.

Semios raises $100m to scale precision ag platform with more acquisitions likely

September 29, 2021

“You will probably see more strategic partnerships and acquisitions from Semios,” Michael Gilbert tells AFN.

EXCLUSIVE: Intelinair raises $20m to scale digital agronomy product, expand into carbon

September 23, 2021

It has completely overhauled its go-to-market strategy after bringing on a former Dow AgroSciences CEO as an investor and board member.

Data Snapshot: 2021 set to break new record for agrifoodtech investment; $24bn raised in H1

September 9, 2021

While mega-deals involving seven Chinese e-Grocery startups accounted for $3.8 billion of H1’s figure, funding to other countries is still on track to outpace 2020 levels, according to the latest data from AgFunder.

Sound Agriculture closes $45m late stage round led by Leaps by Bayer

August 19, 2021

The US startup uses “rapid epigenetics” to stimulate crops’ root zones and enhance the performance of synthetic fertilizer, while reducing usage.

Apeel raises $250m Series E to expand supply networks, fund tech acquisitions

August 18, 2021

Apeel’s core technology is a plant-based ‘peel’ that can be applied to the surface of fresh produce to maintain its freshness for longer.

Brief: GreenLight Biosciences agrees to go public in $1.2bn SPAC merger

August 10, 2021

The ag biotech company, which uses the RNA tech made famous by Covid-19 vaccines, will list on the Nasdaq – eventually providing an exit for investors including AgFunder, S2G Ventures, and Continental Grain Company.