Meet the Founder: Neatleaf’s Elmar Mair discusses the critical role of autonomy in ag: “It takes a lot of anxiety out of cultivation”
Neatleaf’s CEO and co-founder talks ag robotics, scaling a hardware startup, and why it started in cannabis.
Neatleaf’s CEO and co-founder talks ag robotics, scaling a hardware startup, and why it started in cannabis.
“In 2016, I spoke to a lot of investors that said, ‘Why would anybody produce casein in plants when you can easily do it via precision fermentation?’ The same people are now coming back and saying, ‘Actually what you’re doing makes a lot of sense,'” says Alpine Bio founder Magi Richani.
The Maia Farms & Ecoation growing system for mycelium and fresh produce can make 700kg of food a year in a device the size of a wardrobe.
Industrial-scale insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities?
Funding into Australian agrifoodtech startups fell 33% last year according to AgFunder data… But it could have been worse: global agrifoodtech funding fell 49% over the same period.
We caught up with FYTO to talk duckweed and manure management: “Manure is a great input because we’re growing probably the fastest nitrogen consumer on the planet.”
“In the first six years, we had more failures than successes,” says insect ag pioneer Kees Aarts.
“We have a very clear strategy that will allow us to establish a brand based on our quality,” says Oishii co-founder Hiroki Koga.
“Our first farm was profitable within a few months of opening, so we realized we might be onto something big,” says Gotham Greens founder and CEO.
Financial troubles along with a downturn in venture capital and demand for specialty mushrooms are behind Smallhold’s recent filing.
Insect breeding and rearing/processing require very different skillsets, claims FreezeM, which supplies insect farmers with neonates in a state of ‘suspended animation.’
The capital injection will also help advance work to develop Cavendish bananas engineered to resist the devastating fungal disease Fusarium wilt.
Industrial-scale insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities?
Funding in Novel Farming Systems—an AgFunder category spanning indoor farming, insect ag, aquaculture, and algae production—fell off a cliff last year.
Coastal shrimp farming comes with a laundry list of problems. So how do you design an alternate system that can eliminate externalities that threaten coastal systems (extreme weather, disease) and still make a margin?
Technology that eliminates the earthy color, flavor and aroma of crickets could unlock new opportunities in human food markets, claims US-based startup Hoppy Planet Foods.
Here are some of highlights (and a few low lights😉) from 2023, plus some areas to watch in 2024, from designer probiotics to livestock methane reduction.
As well as taking stock of the best read articles of the year, the AgFunderNews team also wanted to highlight our favourite stories of the year; the articles we’re most proud of and enjoyed reporting the most.
The environment today is more realistic and therefore investments in the sector have a much better chance for long-term sustained success.
ReFarm and FoodTech Valley will build a circular, closed-loop system to boost UAE food security and decarbonize food production.
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International Fresh Produce Association launches year 3 of its produce accelerator