Category: AgTech

BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: 500 Startups leads seed round for Vietnam’s Cricket One

October 13, 2019

Cricket One is another insect-based protein startup that's taking off in Asia, but why? AFN speaks with its founder, Nam Dang, to find out.

UPDATE: Future Meat Technologies raises $14m Series A as Memphis Meats eyes jumbo Series B

October 10, 2019

This is the second-largest round for a cultivated meat startup after Memphis Meat's $17 million Series A.

Climate change-minded tech accelerator is funding innovation across the food value chain

October 10, 2019

Editor’s Note: Danya Hakeem is director of innovation, agriculture & circular economy at Elemental Excelerator. Here she writes about their latest cohort.

With recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others illustrating that it will be impossible to keep global temperatures at safe levels unless there is also a transformation in the way the world produces food and manages land, the time to address systemic problems across the food value chain is now.

The extraordinary opportunity in Asian Ag & Food Technology

October 9, 2019

Asia's getting richer faster than anywhere else, and there's a huge need to produce enough food for growing populations. Here's why you should get into it.

Why Dan Vradenburg joining Trace Genomics as CEO is a big deal

October 9, 2019

Daniel Vradenburg is the former president of Wilbur-Ellis and the board chair of Cavallo Ventures and now he's joining soil science startup Trace Genomics.

Women in AgTech: Fighting machismo in Latin America

October 9, 2019

"I am woman, hear me roar," belts Helen Reddy. That bravado reverberates in Chipsafer's Victoria Alonsoperez & Agrosmart's Mariana Vasconcelos' daily lives.

Augmenta raises $2.5m seed round from Hardware Club, Marathon VC

October 8, 2019

The Greek tech startup will use the funds to support commercialization of its real-time device that analyzes crops and manages input application.

BRIEF: Barn2Door raises $3.4m Series A to connect farmers to customers

October 6, 2019

Seattle-based Barn2Door books a $3.4 million Series A, and plans to use it to continue building its tech linking farms with customers. Read on for more.

Microfluidics mastery earns Switzerland’s Creoptix $8m Series C

October 4, 2019

Much attention on the work at Creoptix has been on the use of their bioanalytical instruments in the discovery of new drugs and cures for diseases. But there is a relevant agtech application as well, a spokesperson for the company tells AFN

Making the investment case for regenerative agriculture

October 3, 2019

Farmers and investors are making financial gains from regenerative agriculture, according to several speakers at the inaugural Regenerative Food Systems Investment (RFSI) Forum.

BRIEF: Alibaba and Bayer to create Blockchain-based Ag Tracking System

October 2, 2019

Alibaba's Ant Financial teams up with Bayer Crop Science to create blockchain-based tech to improve the lives of farmers. Read on for details.

Startup Spotlight: Seed-X wants to help farmers find the right seed using AI and computer vision

October 1, 2019

Through its Genetic Traits Detection Platform, the company is hoping to make seed selection more accurate and reliable for farmers.

Paine Schwartz closes $1.425bn food & ag private equity fund

October 1, 2019

The firm closed the fund with new and existing investors from across the globe.

Checking in with Aerobotics

October 1, 2019

Word has been getting around about Aerobotics' incredible decision support technology for tree crops. Rob Leclerc shares some facts and figures about the startup's rapid growth to-date.

Can tech save our bacon as ASF spreads?

September 30, 2019

As the deadly African Swine Fever keeps spreading, we identify tech that could potentially help farmers win in the battle against it.

From biz dev at Grubhub to Kraft Heinz’s VC arm, Steve Sanger is still selling hard

September 30, 2019

Evolv Ventures launched late last year as the venture arm of ketchup and mac-and-cheese behemoth Kraft Heinz with $100 million to invest in startups. We caught up with Steve Sanger, a partner at Evolv, to find out more about the fund's strategy and his personal shift from startup to investor

Renewal Funds eyes earth-friendly food for its C$145m fourth fund

September 30, 2019

The Vancouver-based venture capital firm has raised a further C$145 million to invest in environmental tech and sustainable consumer products, including organic food and alternative protein.

PathogenDx raises $7.5m Series B for cannabis pathogen testing, eyes food

September 30, 2019

The Arizona-based startup initially developed to test pathogens on cannabis is now preparing to expand into the broader food and beverage space.

The land of alt milk and AI honey: notes from Israel’s AgriFood Week

September 26, 2019

I tucked into my first ever breakfast in Israel early this Sunday morning faced with a blatantly biblical reminder, but there's nothing typical about the future milk and honey being developed by the country's booming foodtech scene.

Indoor AgTech Landscape: 1,000+ companies innovating inside

September 26, 2019

People are recognizing the potential opportunity for indoor growing to address many of the challenges in food and ag. Since the Plenty funding in late 2017, we have seen a surge of funding for both sunless and greenhouse approaches, says The Mixing Bowl releasing its first Indoor AgTech Landscape.