AgFunder-backed GROW Impact Accelerator reveals its latest cohort of cutting-edge startups

AgFunder and agrifoodtech ecosystem catalyst GROW today unveil their latest GROW Impact Accelerator cohort – and it’s the most diverse one yet. Showcasing innovations across the value chain, the selected companies offer technologies that will drive positive transformation across our food and agriculture industry. The cohort was picked from over 360 applicants hailing from 78 countries, and seven out of the 10 teams have female founders. 

The teams selected are: 

• 3Bee (Italy): Cloud-based farm management system for beekeepers combined with marketplace technology, driving transparency and traceability in global honey production.
• Decomer Technology (Estonia): All natural, plant-based, functional food-grade packaging for food manufacturers and FMCG. 
• LYRO Robotics (Australia): Next-gen robotic solution for food packing, working to alleviate manpower constraints and to improve efficiency on the line. 
• Mycotech Lab (Indonesia): Designing and producing mycelium-based goods such as animal-free leather and building materials from agricultural waste streams, including corn and oil palm.
• Nubocha (US): Dairy-free, no-added-sugar, and keto-friendly artisanal gelato brand committed to sustainability, traceability, and owning part of the supply chain.
• Phagos (France): Addressing the looming pandemic of antibiotic resistance with bacteriophage solutions to efficiently address bacterial infections in seafood and livestock.
• Tepbac (Vietnam): Revolutionising Vietnam’s aquaculture industry with a comprehensive suite of software and hardware solutions.
• Veggie Victory (Nigeria): Offering affordable plant-based meat alternatives that match local tastes and textures, while addressing chronic protein deficiency among African consumers. 
• X-Centric Sciences (US): Instrumentation systems for soil carbon analysis, allowing efficient and streamlined acquisition of vertically stratified, geochemical carbon data.
• Yeap Proteins (Israel): A complete, yeast-based protein source made from industrial sidestreams that can be used as a functional ingredient,  bulking ingredient, or concentrated protein powder. 

Now in its third year, the 20-week GROW Impact Accelerator is backed by the GROW Impact Fund – AgFunder’s first fund that invests not only using commercial metrics, but also by assessing the potential environmental and social impact of its portfolio companies. To help bring this vision to life, GROW has partnered with Netherlands-based Treety to measure and report on the impact performance of the startups, both at the individual company level  as well as at an overall portfolio level. 

The program will provide the 10 selected startups with the support they need to scale rapidly and advance sustainability – both in a business sense, and from a systemic perspective in terms of the lifecycle of food from production to consumption.

Each company will receive $100,000 in cash investment and substantial in-kind benefits, as well as the opportunity to raise follow-on investment from AgFunder and its network of global co-investment partners. The GROW Impact Accelerator demo day is currently planned for early Q4 2022 and will take place in Singapore.

The program launch follows the first close of the AgFunder SIJ Impact Fund, whose strategic investors – including Asahi Group Holdings and Meiji Holdings – will work closely with selected GROW Impact Accelerator startups to bring solutions to market.

“Impact is a mindset that founders choose to apply when building their business, as much as it’s an approach we choose to apply to our investment thesis,” said John Friedman, executive director, Asia at AgFunder.

“We’ve shown over the past three years that building strong businesses and creating meaningful impact in our food system does not have to be a compromise. We’re excited to be working with this fantastic group of founders from across the globe to bring to life a diversity of solutions that tap into some of the greatest opportunities of our time.”

The GROW Impact Accelerator is supported by impact partners Treety, UNDP Global Centre, Grow Asia, and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, alongside official media partner AFN. To learn more about the GROW Impact Accelerator, visit www.gogrow.co/the-grow-accelerator.