2024 has been another challenging year for agrifoodtech startups, with souring investor sentiment prompting layoffs and business failures that dominated the ‘most read’ list on AgFunderNews this year, from the demise of ag insights platform Gro Intelligence and alt protein co Motif FoodWorks, to the collapse of vertical mushroom farmer Smallhold.
We also saw significant traffic on stories exploring the potential impact of new tariffs from the incoming Trump administration and the increasingly ugly legal spat between animal-free dairy pioneer Perfect Day and copacker Olon, which follows similar disputes between Eat Just and bioreactor supplier ABEC, and Beyond Meat and former co-manufacturer Don Lee Farms.
Given the rapid growth of drones for spraying crops—a market currently dominated by Chinese supplier DJI—our coverage of lawmakers’ attempts to restrict DJI’s US activities also featured heavily in our top 25.
But it’s not all doom and gloom! Stories about large funding rounds for gene editing startup Ohalo, mycoprotein specialist Infinite Roots and indoor ag startup Oishii also struck a chord with readers, while our in-depth reports on insect farming, livestock methane reduction, and GLP-1 drugs also sparked interest.
Other stories attracting eyeballs in 2024 were the ups and downs at cultivated meat co Omeat, the wind-down of Mineral, an agtech business created by Google’s parent co Alphabet, and ongoing coverage of regenerative agriculture, praised by some as the key to restoring soil health and combating climate change and dismissed by others as a buzzword enabling the industry’s biggest polluters to sustain an unsustainable status quo while presenting a more eco-friendly face via initiatives such as ‘low carbon beef.’
1 – North Carolina farmer weighs in on China ag spray drones battle: ‘Everyone is contacting their state reps about this’ Elaine Watson
2 – Oishii raises additional funding to close Series B at $150m, preps first international expansion Jennifer Marston
3 – Exclusive: Ag insights platform Gro Intelligence is closing down Elaine Watson
4 – Armed with $100m in funding, Dave Friedberg unveils ‘boosted breeding’ tech at Ohalo in ‘holy shit’ moment for crop breeders Elaine Watson
5 – Mineral winds down: ‘We will no longer be an Alphabet company; but our technology will live on…’ Elaine Watson
6 – Yo Egg moves into US retail with ‘world first’ poached and sunny side up ‘whole’ plant-based eggs Elaine Watson
7 – Exclusive: Perfect Day founders step away as company finalizes ~$90m pre-series E, installs interim CEO Elaine Watson
8 – Cargill bets on mycoprotein with investment in ENOUGH and signs offtake agreement Elaine Watson
9 – Exclusive: Boston-based foodtech startup Motif FoodWorks is closing down Elaine Watson
10 – Exclusive: Perfect Day sued by manufacturing partner for fraud and breach of contract. Olon claims $112m in unpaid bills, $32m in damages Elaine Watson
11 – Mushroom vertical farming company Smallhold files for bankruptcy; firm in ‘worse financial shape than previously disclosed’ Jennifer Marston
12 – The 2024 list of agrifood corporates making regenerative agriculture commitments Jennifer Marston
13 – How would Trump’s tariffs impact large food & beverage firms? And what about USCMA? Elaine Watson
14 – From novelty to necessity? The evolution of insect farming Elaine Watson
15 – ‘Glyphosate is safe’: Facing tens of thousands of lawsuits, Bayer names ongoing Roundup-related litigation a top priority Jennifer Marston
16 – From ‘GLP-1 companion foods’ to ‘Nature’s Ozempic…’ What the new breed of weight loss drugs means for the food industry Elaine Watson
17 – Ag spray drones battle heats up as US lawmakers target Chinese drone maker DJI: ‘This will be a job killer in rural America’ Elaine Watson
18 – ‘Four more years of chaos’ or a ‘historic opportunity’? Food & ag organizations respond to Trump victory Elaine Watson
19 – Meati Foods hit with false advertising lawsuit over ‘mushroom root’ claims Elaine Watson
20 – Exclusive: Cultivated meat co SCiFi Foods closes up shop, appoints firm to run sales process Elaine Watson
21 – Methane-busting feed supplements are beginning to scale. But who will foot the bill, and what will drive widespread adoption Elaine Watson
22 – Preliminary AgFunder data point to 78% decline in cultivated meat funding in 2023; investors blame ‘general risk aversion’ Elaine Watson
23 – Exclusive: Omeat’s tumultuous year: staff cuts and leadership shake-up at startup with ‘elegant’ new approach to scaling cultivated meat Elaine Watson
24 – New report: Agrifoodtech startup investment drops 50%, accounts for just 5.5% of global VC dollars Jennifer Marston
25 – ‘The largest investment in mycelium in Europe…’ Infinite Roots nets $58m to scale ‘asset-light’ operation Elaine Watson
Guest article: When minimum isn’t viable – the case against MVP in foodtech and beyond