Tag: Frankly Speaking

What the fork? Karana wishes “Happy Jacksgiving” with alt turkey

November 28, 2019

I tried Karana's alt turkey at the recent Asia Agri-Food Innovation Week in Singapore. Here's what I thought.

Bayer CropScience COO: acquisition is exception to rule in startup interactions

November 14, 2019

We caught up with Brett Begemann in London recently to talk glyphosate, Bayer's venture activities, digital ag, gene editing and smallholder farmers.

Oyster farming: a true triple bottom line win

November 14, 2019

Recent academic work has found that oyster farming can remove nitrogen, phosphate and sediment from the water column making it more than just a profitable business with growing global demand, writes Chip Terry.

We just invested in the fastest-growing agtech company and farmer network in the world

October 30, 2019

People often ask us if agtech will have a Facebook or Google and we’ve told them to look to marketplaces in emerging markets. It’s also important to us at AgFunder that startups have a clear mission and there’s no more noble mission than uplifting the fortunes of the world’s largest workforce.

From biz dev at Grubhub to Kraft Heinz’s VC arm, Steve Sanger is still selling hard

September 30, 2019

Evolv Ventures launched late last year as the venture arm of ketchup and mac-and-cheese behemoth Kraft Heinz with $100 million to invest in startups. We caught up with Steve Sanger, a partner at Evolv, to find out more about the fund's strategy and his personal shift from startup to investor

Future Food: Klaus Kunz on how Bayer is cleaning up its act

September 24, 2019

In this episode of Future Food, AFN editor Louisa Burwood-Taylor speaks to Klaus Kunz, head of Sustainability and Business Stewardship at German agro-pharma giant Bayer.

Can alternative protein startups justify their climbing valuations?

September 11, 2019

It’s hard to miss the investor enthusiasm for alternative protein startups but valuations are creeping up as I heard at the Good Food Conference last week.

The Modern Acre podcast: Restoring food as medicine with Brightseed

September 5, 2019

In partnership with AgFunder, Tim & Tyler Nuss have produced a 4-part series including three of our portfolio companies. Here's the first one, enjoy!

How to pitch like a pro

September 3, 2019

Applications for the evokeAG 2020 Startup Program in Australia are open and the team has called on three of Australia's leading innovators and champions for entrepreneurship to discuss what makes a stellar pitch.

Farming is the world’s most important career — that’s why it needs a new image

August 26, 2019

Karn Manhas is founder and CEO of Terramera, an agbiotech startup focused on improving the sustainability of farming. Here he writes about the importance of promoting the farming industry as an appealing and impactful career for the next generation.

If we really want to sequester more carbon, agriculture can’t be made the enemy, says microbial input startup Locus

August 19, 2019

Ohio-based Locus has developed microbial inputs that help a variety of crops to sequester as much as 121% more carbon.

The Plant-Based Meat Revolution is Not “Inevitable”

July 24, 2019

Plant-based meat still costs two-to-five times as much as its animal counterparts and solving this problem is far from an inevitability, writes Christie Lagally.

A Surprisingly Developed Agtech Ecosystem Flourishes in Central Mexico

June 28, 2019

What I witnessed during the recent 2019 Mexico AgTech Competition was inspirational and motivating," writes Adrian Garcia-Casarrubias.

Why We’ve Launched GROW, a New Singapore Agri-FoodTech Accelerator with Rocket Seeder

June 4, 2019

At the heart of the ASEAN region, Singapore is in a unique position when it comes to creating an ecosystem for startup innovation and success.

A Q&A with Robert Saik: It’s Time to Get Big or Go Home for Agriculture Robotics

May 21, 2019

Although there are a number of farm robotics startups, they lack the scale necessary to make a meaningful impact, according to Robert Saik, CEO of DOT Farm Solutions retail strategies.

Food Tech Innovators Need to Focus More on Global Nutrition

May 13, 2019

Despite their ingenuity and a commendable focus on sustainability and food loss, entrepreneurs are missing a huge opportunity by not prioritizing nutrition, writes Amy Beaudreault.

‘We are relentlessly looking for female entrepreneurs, but there aren’t enough’

May 9, 2019

AgFunder and its collaborators KK&P and The New Food Economy are excited to announce that S2G Ventures has become a sponsor of Money Where Our Mouths Are (MWOMA), an investigation into the funding gaps for female entrepreneurs in the agrifood industry.

Alternative Protein Startups: Let’s Get the Facts Straight about Livestock’s Carbon Footprint

March 21, 2019

The issue of livestock farming’s impact on the environment is not as clear cut as many would have you believe. In fact, many much of the data dairy and meat alternative businesses are using to market their animal-free wares are inaccurate and misleading.

Reclaiming the Promise of Food for Health

March 14, 2019

The real power to endow people with fundamentally longer, healthier lives resides in the hands of the food industry, writes Jim Flatt.

How to Overcome the Many Challenges Associated with Agricultural Data

February 14, 2019

Flurosense, Agworld, PCT Agcloud, CSIRO, and AgLink Australia recently won a grant to build an interoperable agronomic analytics engine to resolve many of the inherent challenges surrounding agricultural data. Anastasia Volkova tells us more.