Best of 2019: AFN’s top 5 guest articles

The AgFunder Network grew to over 75,000 in 2019 as a combination of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, multinational corporate executives, government officials, institutional investors and more get involved in the foodtech and agtech industries. To make the most of the expertise in our network and provide as much value as possible to our readers, we are super proud to share some of these experts’ insights.

In 2019, we’ve had over 40 guest writers contribute – here’s a look at the top 5 best read.

AgTech Landscape 2019: 1,600+ Startups Innovating on the Farm and in the ‘Messy Middle’

Seana Day, a partner at Better Food Ventures and The Mixing Bowl, and someone I just love bumping into at agtech events, has been putting together this market map for several years now and this year AFN was privileged to publish it first. Seana is always super insightful and here she gives a run down of how various categories are tracking and challenges coming up ahead.

The Economics of Local Vertical and Greenhouse Farming Are Getting Competitive

In 2015 and 2016, any article on indoor agriculture was bound to be the best read that week and year, but after some realization that the segment of agtech was far from being viable as a long term, scalable business, readership on the topic dropped. But, after a brief hiatus from the best read articles on AFN, it’s safe to say that’s changed and articles like Peter Tasgal’s are a case in point for why; because the industry is maturing at last. Peter Tasgal is an agriculture consultant with former experience as CFO and board member of a $100 million CPG business headquartered in Montreal, Canada. He was also an investment banker for over 10 years.

The second generation of vertical farming is approaching. Here’s why it’s important.

Continuing on from that trend, and only published in November emphasizing how exciting this topic is for readers, Boaz Toledano’s article digs into a similar theme; how vertical farming groups have matured, paving the way for the next generation. Boaz is a business consultant specializing in vertical farming and other agtech markets. Disclosure: Toledano independently chose to include mention of one of the AgFunder’s portfolio companies IGS (Intelligent Growth Solutions).

Farming is the world’s most important career — that’s why it needs a new image

Shortly before closing an epic funding round, Karn Manhas, founder and CEO of Terramera, wrote this article for us about the importance of promoting the farming industry as an appealing and impactful career for the next generation. He makes many valid points and hopefully his words will have had some impact.

Why 2019 is The Year of the Mushroom

It’s true isn’t it? Mushrooms are everywhere and they’re delicious. They’re cropping up in alternative burgers, they are functional for health, and they can be exotic. Andrew Carter, cofounder and CEO of Smallhold, a distributed farming pioneer, placing connected, autonomous mini-farms focused on mushrooms, wrote this for us back in February but I’d ask, isn’t 2020 also going to be the year of the mushroom Andrew? I think it is!

Find more of our great guest articles here.