On the heels of the Federal Aviation Administration’s recently proposed regulations on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), California-based 3D Robotics successfully raised $50 million Wednesday led by Qualcomm Ventures. This round of funding is the largest yet by a U.S.
Blume Distillation, which produced biorefinery equipment for bioethanol and other ethanol based end products, announced a $1 million Series B round led by GreenTech seed, and VC fund CC3IC (Climate Change Investigation Innovation and Investment Company).
AgriMetis, a biotech company developing crop protection agents, closed a $7.3m Series A led by Syngenta Ventures and Acidophil. Lutherville-based Agrimetis, which was co-founded in 2014 by Acidophil, is taking a new approach to keeping pests at bay on the farm.
St. Louis based agtech accelerator Yield Lab and Arch Grants have announced they are developing a partnership to provide resources to AgTech startups in the St. Louis region. Yield Lab is a new business accelerator that invests in sustainable methods of increasing the world food supply.
There’s fun(ding) money growing in the indoor garden.
Grove Labs Inc., a Boston-based startup focused on an indoor home-gardening system, closed a $2 million seed round on Friday. Upfront Ventures led the round, with Felicis Ventures, Vayner/RSE, Galvanize Ventures, and Tim Ferriss joining the round.
The Mosaic Company keeps getting bigger.
The Mosaic Company has announced it has acquired a fertilizer distribution business in Brazil and Paraguay for $350 million. Archer Daniels Midland Company previously owned the fertilizer business, and the purchase price assumed the delivery of $150 million in working capital at closing.
This week, bacteria are bringing in the big bucks.
On Monday, BioConsortia, a New Zealand-based and US-funded ag biotech company, announced it raised $15 million in a Series B.
Thanks to a recent $100 million investment, you might soon reduce CO2 by driving a car, and increase crop productivity by using a carbon-negative soil.
Cool Planet Energy Systems, a company producing green biofuels and ag-products, has raised $100 million in a Series D financing.
China’s largest grain trader China National Cereals, Oil and Foodstuffs Corp, or “COFCO,” and mainland private-equity firm Hopu Investment Management Co. have agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a majority of shares from the agribusiness sector of Noble Group Ltd., a Singaporean supplier of agricultural and energy products.
Enterra Feed Inc., a Vancouver-based fertilizer and animal feed company, has announced it closed a $5 million venture-funding round with Avrio Capital.
“It’s particularly rewarding to play a role in facilitating the sustainable recapture of high quality food nutrients so close to home,” said Brad Marchant, CEO of Enterra.
Sorry, Miss Bessy—privacy may no longer be yours.
Silent Herdsman Limited, a UK-startup that has developed a decision-support platform using high-tech cattle-collars, has raised £3 million of investment to expand its market.
Wednesday morning’s announcement of a Series A funding in the ag space tells us that while developing commercial robots may have a high price tag, investors are betting it will provide an even higher reward.
