Is UK eGrocer Ocado’s $22m Vertical Farming Investment a Bargain? – updated
A $100m Series B round for Germany's Infarm soon eclipsed Ocado's deal with JCB and 80 Acres. But has the UK eGrocer got a good deal?
Category Archives: Private Equity
EXCLUSIVE: Founder of Agtech’s First Unicorn David Friedberg Reveals Investment Portfolio of The Production Board
You may have seen The Production Board crop up on a few agrifood tech investments, but there's little publicly-available information about the investment holding company founded by David Friedberg. Until now.
80 Acres Farms Raises $40m to Complete ‘First Fully Automated Vertical Farm’
The new facility will be automated from seeding to growing to harvesting featuring handling robotics, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and around-the-clock monitoring sensors and control systems to optimize every aspect of growing produce indoors.
Ag Industry Brief: Drones and Ag Inputs See M&A, Indoor Growers Form Safety Working Group, Corporate VC Staff Shift, more
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.
AgriFood Tech Investment Surges to $10.1bn Bringing in a New Normal
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.
Ag Industry Brief: Soylent’s Canada Ban, Organic Valley 100% Renewable by 2019, China Produces Gene-Edited Pigs, more
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency claims that the Soylent meal replacement drink does not fulfill the nutritional requirements of a meal.
Pontifax AgTech Closes Fund I on $105m
The fund raised capital predominantly from institutional investors including university endowments, funds of funds, insurance companies, and asset managers.
Syngenta Ventures Invests in Premier Crop Systems After Months of Trials with Software
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.
Ag Industry Brief: Heat’s on Amazon, China Approves GMOs, Blue Apron IPO Investigated, more
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.
TPG ART Invests in Brazilian Digital Ag Startup Solinftec
Global private equity group TPG has invested in Brazilian digital ag company Solinftec through its Alternative and Renewable Technologies growth equity platform TPG ART.
Protix Raises $50m in Largest Insect Farming Investment on Record
Protix farms insects predominantly for animal and aquaculture feed, and has cracked the scalability challenge, according to new investors.
Danish Agribusiness Fund Invests $12m in Chilean Pork Producer Coexca
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.
ADM Capital’s Cibus Agribusiness Fund Holds First Close on $100m
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.
Agtech Funding Sheet: Startups Raise Nearly $130m in 2 Weeks
Solyent, Thymox, Propel, Hectare Agritech, Smart Earth Seeds, Taranis, Abundant, Calysta, Ceres, and Territory have all raised funding in the past two weeks.
Mini Apple Variety Rockit Launches Ahead as Private Equity Investors Pay 10x Valuation from 2011
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).
Agtech Funding Sheet: Otto Robotics Raises $1.5m, Organic Chicken Processor Raises $2.7m, Diet to Go Raises $500k, more
A busy week of fundings saw $89m raised by startups offering technologies from farm-to-fork.
Agtech Funding Sheet: Clear Labs Raises $13m Series B from GV, Khosla, Soros-Linked Fund Invests in Arya Collateral, more
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.
Agtech Funding Sheet: TPG ART Invests in Anuvia, Nuritas Receives EU Grant, Omnivore Invests in FR8, 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.
Agtech Funding Sheet: Habit Raises $32m from Campbells Soup for DNA Testing Nutrition Kit, Eaze Raises $13m Series B, more
A bumper week for agtech fundings includes a diverse mix of cannabis tech, nutrition tech, food e-commerce, weather monitoring, and indoor agriculture.
Report: Agribusinesses Prioritizing Agritech Investment but Don’t Feel Prepared
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.