Circular food start-up plans to cut Australia’s reliance on imports
Lockyer Valley Foods is aiming to raise $50 million in series A funding to build a fruit and vegetable processing facility in Queensland.
Funding, mergers & acquisitions
AgriRobot set to accelerate safety software after funding
The Danish start-up has raised more than €2.5 million to accelerate development of autonomous agricultural safety software.
EarthOptics gets $24 million to drive soil digitisation
Soil data measurement and mapping company EarthOptics has announced the successful completion of $24 million in financing.
Tie-up aims to create market-leading platform for crop nutrition in US
Tie-up aim aims to create market-leading platform for crop nutrition in US
‘Picking up where Gro left off’: Almanac acquires Gro Intelligence’s IP
Almanac says it is poised to ‘supercharge’ its offerings after acquiring the assets of the defunct agricultural insights platform Gro Intelligence.
Mismatch or meant to be? Is VC the best fit for agtech?
Tensions remain between traditional venture capital expectations and the supposed longer development cycles required in agriculture. Experts weigh in.
$1b global package wants to boost weather services for farmers in impoverished regions
A $1 billion scheme aims to give hundreds of millions of farmers across Asia, Latin America and Africa greater access to weather data to help them manage the effects of climate change.
EIT Food launches new start-up accelerator to serve future resilient agriculture
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is partnering with EIT Food, the world’s largest food innovation community, to launch a new accelerator bub for start-ups in the EU.
Investor profile
‘Great founders need proven biotechnology’: Biotope Incubator on how to turn research into profit
There is still too much belief among investors that the people who build a company are a done deal, says Annick Verween, head of the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology's Biotope Incubator. That's not the only attitude she's keen to change, she tells us.
NitroVolt gets €3.5 million to realise its green ammonia plan
The Danish company has secured €3.5 million in seed funding to develop a sustainable and decentralised method for producing ammonia.
Agtech investment is bouncing back... kinda
Pitchbook’s new Q3 2024 agtech report reveals investor confidence is returning. Venture capital funding is on the rise. But deal counts continue to decline and exit opportunities remain limited.
Cheer for Italy’s agrisolar sector as projects attract €185m
Private equity firm and renewable energy investor Capital Dynamics has raised €185 million to finance two of Italy's largest agrivoltaics projects in Sicily.
Agtonomy hails ‘common-sense’ approach after raising $32.8 million
Agtech companies should consider alternative funding models that align better with the agricultural industry's needs and timelines, says Agtonomy’s CEO Tim Bucher in the wake of its Series A round.
xFarm eyes global growth after raising €36 million
The company that provides digital solutions to help farmers and agribusinesses optimise their operations has raised €36 million in a Series C funding round.
New $75 million financing unveiled for high-potential but neglected value streams
The Business Investment Financing Track (BIFT), a new window within the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), aims to bolster inclusive, climate-smart, and nutritious food systems in the poorest and most vulnerable countries.
Enhanced rock weathering start-up Eion celebrates Microsoft deal
Eion, a carbon removal company that uses enhanced rock weathering to remove atmospheric CO2 permanently and verifiably, has announced a contract to deliver 8,000 tonnes of permanent CO2 removal to Microsoft.
Agtech investor profile
The Yield Lab Latam on why access to credit is key to agtech adoption
Investing at the dawn of Brazil’s agrifintech revolution has served as the basis of its success, says The Yield Lab Latam’s managing partner Kieran Gartlan.
Pairwise gets new investment to accelerate crop breeding with gene editing
Pairwise, the US technology company using gene editing to improve plant breeding in specialty and commodity crops, has closed a $40M Series C funding.
Green insecticide start-up raises $14m
SOLASTA Bio, based in Glasgow in the UK and with a base in North Carolina in the US, has completed a $14 million Series A funding round to accelerate the development of its peptide-based bioinsecticides.
Soil Capital raises €15 million to boost agricultural transition
Brussels-based Soil Capital said it aims to strengthen, secure, and make agricultural supply chains more sustainable, addressing a ‘triple need’: social, environmental, and economic.
'Fostering collaboration': Aussie agtech start-ups with global ambitions wanted for CSIRO India accelerator
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is inviting start-ups and small to medium-sized enterprises with innovative agtech solutions to apply for the India Australia Rapid Innovation Start-up Expansion (RISE) Accelerator.
AgriZeroNZ invests extra $4m in Kiwi company developing methane-inhibiting bolus
Public-private joint venture AgriZeroNZ is investing a further NZD $4 million in Ruminant BioTech, to accelerate the commercialisation of a methane-inhibiting bolus specifically suited to New Zealand’s pastoral farming system.
Fresh funds for crop protection start-up demonstrates the pheromone appeal
PheroSyn, a spin-out from Rothamsted Research in the UK, has secured new funding to advance its pheromones-based pest management solutions.
ADM and Farmer Business Network strive to expand adoption of digital regenerative agriculture platform
The pair have announced a new joint venture to accelerate the Gradable platform, designed to allow farmers to derive value from grain produced using sustainable and regenerative practices.
DiMuto secures US$5.9m to boost global agri-food chain traceability
Singapore-based DiMuto, which uses blockchain, AI, and IoT technologies to digitise and optimise the global agrifood supply chain, has announced it has successfully closed its Series A funding round, securing a total of US$5.9 million.
Gamaya and Terraview merger set to target ‘overlooked’ tropical crop sector
The digital ag specialists aim to combine their AI-powered platforms to unlock new opportunities for sustainable food systems. The long-term goal is to take the lead in addressing farming sustainability for tropical crops, AgTechNavigator understands.
Company hails ‘enormous’ potential of micropeptides in crop protection after fundraise
Micropep Technologies, which creates natural crop protection and stimulation products using micropeptides, has announced a $29 million Series B funding round and unveiled a proprietary discovery platform called Krisalix.
Inside a billion dollar deal: Why Merck acquired Elanco aqua health
Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside North America, has completed its acquisition of Elanco's aqua business, a deal it claims will bolster its leadership within that sector.
Agrobiomics raises €4 million to make plants climate resilient with biological solutions
Agrobiomics, a Danish agtech company developing sustainable biological solutions for agriculture, has raised €4 million from NOON Ventures to bring an abiotic stress protectant, called Fortify, to the market – making plants climate resilient.
US vertical farmer Plenty to expand in the Middle East
Plenty is forming a joint venture with Mawarid, a subsidiary of Alpha Dhabi Holding, in a US$680 million deal to develop a network of indoor farms across Gulf Cooperation Council member countries over the next five years.
Start-up’s fundraise illustrates need to address climate credit’s ‘chequered’ past
Mitti Labs, which aims to reduce methane emissions in rice farming, has just secured $3 million in equity investment thanks to its prospects of being able to meet rising demand for verified carbon credits.
Syngenta reveals latest tie-up to accelerate launch of ‘pioneering’ biological solution
The crop protection giant has revealed a partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks, a US biotechnology company that specialises in using genetic engineering and synthetic biology to create custom microorganisms for a wide range of industries.
Farmbot fundraise illustrates demand for water saving solutions
As water scarcity intensifies and environmental pressures mount, smart water management is becoming essential for ensuring the sustainability and productivity of agriculture. Leveraging data, technology, and best practices can help farmers grow more with...
‘The next two years will be incredible’. Latam investors find reasons to be cheerful
A panel of venture capitalists at the recent World Agri-Tech South America Summit in São Paulo were bullish on the prospects for agtech funding in the region.
Is private equity investment best placed to serve agtech?
It’s a question we put to Sao Paulo, Brazil-based Aqua Capital, a private equity firm investing in sustainable and innovative companies within the ag and food sectors, which has announced the final closing of its Ag & Food PE Fund III (Fund III).
What's behind Syngenta's move to open up its genome-editing and new breeding tech?
In a groundbreaking move, Syngenta Group has announced that it is expanding access to its genome-editing and breeding technologies to academic researchers globally.
Portfolio Profiles
SparkLabs Cultiv8 on how to create strong financial returns and meaningful impact
AgTechNavigator caught up with SparkLabs Cultiv8, an Australian-based accelerator programme that supports early-stage agri-food tech and cleantech startups from ideation to commercialisation.
Iyris gets $16m to scale tech for ‘underserved’ growers in harsh conditions
Iyris (formerly RedSea), which helps growers in the most difficult farming environments around the world to increase crop yields, reduce input costs and risk, and extend growing seasons, has completed a $16 million Series A fundraise. Now, the hard work...
Global ag is ‘dishearteningly under-optimised’: Hexafarms gets €1.3m to digitise indoor farming
Hexafarms, a start-up which develops software for indoor commercial food production, has announced the successful close of a €1.3 million pre-Seed funding round led by leading European early-stage investors Speedinvest with participation from Mudcake and...
VC firm Big Idea Ventures enters biologicals sector with PlantSustain platform
Early-stage ag and food tech investor Big Idea Ventures has launched its fifth portfolio company through its Generation Food Rural Partners (GFRP) fund.
On-demand crop pollination: Have the barriers to achieving scale finally been cracked?
AgTechNavigator catches up with PowerPollen, whose technology allows pollen to be collected, preserved, and applied on-demand, for significantly better pollination and higher yields for wind-pollinated crops.
Farm management app xFarm Technologies eyes expansion after integrating new tech
Switzerland’s xFarm Technologies hopes to establish itself as a European agtech leader after integrating new technology into its digital platform to provide more solutions to help growers become more efficient and sustainable.
Precision sprayer Greeneye defies market slump to raise $20 million to scale US operation – but will farmers follow?
The Israeli company says securing this round of capital in today’s challenging economic climate is further validation of Greeneye’s mission to drive mainstream adoption of precision spraying technology in the US.
VC investment
Agtech's ‘great reset’ continues, data reveals
PitchBook’s latest Q1 2024 Agtech Report indicates a market undergoing a correction, with the wheat being separated from the chaff. Some sectors are hotter than others, meanwhile.
Start-up enabling precision crop management with robots and AI raises $3.8m
Founded in 2022, Cornell University spin out Orchard Robotics has engineered a vehicle-mounted, AI-powered camera system that gathers precision data about fruit on trees.
Untapping the water management market: Finnish start-up raises €2.2m to recycle nutrients from wastewater
NPHarvest, a spin-off from Aalto University in Finland, has raised €2.2 million to bring its proprietary nutrient catcher machine to market. The hardware is the first of its kind, making it possible to catch nutrients on a real commercial level, the...
The worst job in ag? TerraClear raises US$15m to free farmers from chore of rock picking
Rock removal company TerraClear has announced its existing investors have poured an additional US$15 million into capturing the untapped US$2.7 rock management market. A 5,000-year-old problem finally has a solution, it says.
French start-up flush with new funds to combat water scarcity in agriculture
Founded in 2014, Weenat provides the agricultural community with agro-meteorological data to monitor the climatic and agronomic conditions of its plots in real time, from sowing to harvesting.
Start-up behind methane-eating microbes technology raises $28m
Windfall Bio has secured $28m in venture capital funding from the likes of Amazon, B37 Ventures and more as part of a Series A seed round.
Aquaculture without antibiotics: Peptobiotics closes Series A round as it seeks to tackle ‘acute’ overuse and resistance
Singapore start-up Peptobiotics has raised US$6.2M in Series A funding to commercialise its antimicrobial peptide technology as it seeks to replace the use of antibiotics, firstly in aquaculture, and in the future in livestock.