One agrifood tech VC vet heads from Monsanto Growth Ventures to Temasek while indoor growers get together to develop industry safety standards, plus agtech M&A in this week's brief.
2017 was a year of extremes in agrifood tech investing. Large deals pushed the total investment volume up to post an encouraging 29% growth, but deal count fell by 17% to 949, with the most dramatic contraction at the crucial seed stage.
The fund raised capital predominantly from institutional investors including university endowments, funds of funds, insurance companies, and asset managers.
Syngenta Ventures has acquired a minority stake in Premier Crop Systems (PCS), a Des Moines, Iowa based agronomic software tool in a growth equity investment round.
Trump's nomination of Sam Clovis, a new hire at Finistere Ventures, Hampton Creek's board fallout, and Arlon's Brazilian dairy investment are also covered this week.
Global private equity group TPG has invested in Brazilian digital ag company Solinftec through its Alternative and Renewable Technologies growth equity platform TPG ART.
DAF is backed by the Danish government and the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), in collaboration with two of Denmark’s largest pension funds, PensionDanmark and PKA.
The new fund, which will focus on mid-market investment opportunities in sustainable food processing and production companies, is targeting a $500m final close in 2018.
Solyent, Thymox, Propel, Hectare Agritech, Smart Earth Seeds, Taranis, Abundant, Calysta, Ceres, and Territory have all raised funding in the past two weeks.
The founder of Rockit Global, the New Zealand company that holds the global rights to the mini Rockit apple variety, has sold over 50% of the company to two private equity firms Pioneer Capital and Oriens Capital for around N$25 million ($17 million).
A busy week of fundings as the year draws to a close includes food safety technology, insect farming, food waste technology, Indian supply chain technology and more.
A varied week of agtech fundings includes a food waste-to-biofertilizer company, a leading global private equity firm, an Irish startup using artificial intelligence to find healthy peptides, a precision ag software startup, and more.
A bumper week for agtech fundings includes a diverse mix of cannabis tech, nutrition tech, food e-commerce, weather monitoring, and indoor agriculture.
Agribusinesses are at risk of being left behind if they don’t make technology investment a core part of their strategy, according to a new report from BCG Consulting and AgFunder.
The cannabis fund, which first launched last year to limited investor reception, is targeting $20 million to $25 million to invest in cannabis technology companies and brands.
