The startups, whittled down from 500+ applicants, will pitch in front of investors, startup ecosystem enthusiasts, and program partners Boortmalt and Surcos.
“We had the human genome project,” says Dr. Claus Felby. “This is the planetary genome project… we are mapping everything in a given ecosystem.”
Santa Barbara based startup Spero Renewables is seeking to disrupt the vanilla flavors market with tech it claims can create more cost-competitive natural vanillin.
AgFunder’s head of engineering Robin Ranjit Singh Chauhan quizzed founders from three portfolio companies at this year’s AGM to explore how they are harnessing artificial intelligence.
Agrifoodtech investor PeakBridge has closed its Growth Fund II at $187m in partnership with Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, bringing its total AUM (assets under management) to more than $250m.
“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.
“One thing we’ve recognized is that sometimes breakthrough technologies that map really well to a very positive and impactful food and agri thesis might originate outside of the sector,” says Michael Lavin.
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.
Scaling and commercializing products from a completely new crop takes time and patient capital, says Terviva cofounder and CEO Naveen Sikka.
Funding winter notwithstanding, “If you’re doing something different and really innovative, you will make money,” says Vinod Khosla.
“I think the pain will continue for a while as deals that aren’t performing are price corrected,” says managing partner Lucas Mann. “But I’m still super bullish about this space.”
There’s no way to sugarcoat this: investment in agrifoodtech startups is at its lowest point in six years. But considering the contribution of the agrifood sector to the global economy and livelihoods, has the correction gone too far?
Agrifood VC funds grew from 42 in 2013 to more than 280 by the third quarter of 2023, though that growth has slowed in the last few years.
Plus… Steakholder Foods unveils a 3D-printed eel, and carbon removal startup Standard Biocarbon secures $5m for a new biochar production facility.
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.
Readers of AgFunderNews were glued to stories on indoor ag, regenerative ag, plant-based and cultivated meat, and an ugly spat between Miyoko’s Creamery and its namesake founder in 2023.
To find out, foodtech editor Elaine Watson fired off a few emails to startups she’s covered on AgFunderNews this year to get a sense of what is disrupting their sleep, with a particular emphasis on the alt protein space.
Foodtech + agtech = agrifoodtech. Check out our potted history of one of the world’s most politically charged—and critically important—industries over the last 10 years, with data, analysis, and interviews with Climate Corp, John Deere, FBN, Impossible Foods, Mosa Meat, and more…
As part of GROW’s 2024 program, which kicks off in April, 10 founders will receive a $100k cash investment from AgFunder, introductions to its global network of co-investors, and mentorship and support from Singapore-based agrifoodtech accelerator, GROW, over a five-month period.
Climate action levels remain “half baked” for 44% of the 83 companies examined in a new analysis by climate intelligence platform CarbonCloud.
