As part of AgFunder’s role in funding startups in food and agriculture, we have become a leading intelligence source for the sector, aided by our exposure to a global network of startups and venture capital firms.
As well as providing daily news coverage through AgFunderNews, we publish periodic research on trends shaping the future of food and agriculture. Our widely-cited research includes investment reports on venture capital funding to foodtech and agtech startups, country deep-dives, and resource guides for startups.
Agfunder funding report
In 2023, Indian agrifoodtech startups raised $940 million across 129 deals, down 60% from 2022.
The number of deals remained almost flat with 129 closing in 2023 compared to 133 deals in 2022, indicating smaller deal sizes given the steep decline in dollars raised.
Agfunder funding report
A first-of-its-kind report by AgFunder and ISF Advisors, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sheds light on the pressing need and opportunities for private investment in climate adaptation within the agriculture sectors of emerging markets, focusing on the pivotal role of smallholder farmers. This is the executive summary from the full report which is also available to download.
Agfunder funding report
A first-of-its-kind report by AgFunder and ISF Advisors, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sheds light on the pressing need and opportunities for private investment in climate adaptation within the agriculture sectors of emerging markets, focusing on the pivotal role of smallholder farmers.
Agfunder funding report
The food and agriculture technology market was badly hit by the venture capital downturn in 2023, raising $15.6 billion in funding, a 49% year-over-year decline. That drop was more than the broader venture capital, which fell 38% in 2023.
Agfunder funding report
Ten years ago, Michael Dean and Rob Leclerc incorporated AgFunder with the mission to bring more investment and innovation to the agriculture and food sectors.
This was the same year Monsanto acquired Climate Corporation in what remains the most pivotal deal of agrifoodtech history.
Agfunder funding report
The inaugural Latin American AgriFoodTech Investment Report released by AgFunder, in collaboration with SP Ventures, Alianza Team, BASF and Cibersons, details $7.3 billion of investment in the sector since 2018.
In 2022, agrifoodtech startups, innovating from farm to fork, raised $1.7 billion in funding, an increase from under $1 billion in 2018 but a 39% decline on record-breaking 2021 investment levels, in line with the global venture capital pullback.
Agfunder funding report
Investment in African agrifoodtech startups reached a record-breaking $636 million in 2022, a 25% year-over-year increase which bucked the global venture capital decline.
But investor sentiment changed in 2023 with just $99 million raised in the first half, down 77% compared to the first half of 2022.
Agfunder funding report
El primer Informe de Inversión en AgriFoodTech de América Latina, lanzado por AgFunder en colaboración con SP Ventures, Alianza Team, BASF y Cibersons, informa una inversión total de 7,3 mil millones de dólares en el sector desde 2018. Además, en 2022, las startups de agrifoodtech, que buscan innovar en todos los eslabones de la cadena de suministro, desde el campo hasta la mesa, recaudaron 1,7 mil millones de dólares en inversiones.
Agfunder funding report
Startups agrifoodtech da América Latina captaram 1,7 bilhão de dólares em 2022, uma queda de 39% em relação a 2021, quando valuations inflacionados e seis negociações de nove dígitos impulsionaram o financiamento para mais de 2,8 bilhões de dólares.
Agfunder funding report
India was not immune to the headwinds impacting global markets in 2022, with funding to Indian agrifoodtech startups dropping 33% year-over-year to $2.4 billion. The decline in the number of deals closed was even more pronounced. But there were bright spots upstream, in climate-related categories closer to the farm.
Agfunder funding report
Global investment in foodtech and agtech (agrifoodtech) startups totaled $29.6bn in 2022, a 44% decline on record-breaking 2021 levels.
The decline is largely in-line with global venture capital markets, however several climate-related categories bucked the global trend posting year-over-year increases.
Agfunder funding report
India has overtaken China as the best funded agrifoodtech ecosystem in Asia-Pacific.
In this fourth iteration of the India AgriFoodTech Investment report, in collaboration with Omnivore, we detail a record-breaking $4.6 billion in investment in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.
Agfunder funding report
In the past five years, early-stage investors have pumped more than $1 billion into African startups innovating for the food and agriculture industry, achieving a record-breaking $482 million in 2021 alone. That was a 250% jump year-over-year, but still represents less than 1% of global agrifoodtech investment.
Agfunder funding report
Some $9.2 billion dollars was invested in agrifoodtech ventures in Europe in 2021.
Similar to the global agrifoodtech scene, investors mostly backed online grocery ventures and other asset-light downstream technologies. European e-Grocery startups raised $4.2 billion, representing 43% of Europe’s total agrifoodtech investment capital and a 1,300% year-over-year jump.
Where did the rest go?
Agfunder funding report
Venture capital investors pumped $51.7 billion into agrifood technologies in 2021; an 85% increase over 2020. The theme of the year: doubling-down (and tripling, and quadrupling-down.) Agrifoodtech sectors that took off in response to the Covid-19 pandemic not only remained the most popular investment categories; they exploded with new deals.
Agfunder funding report
Covid-19 had already reached India by the start of the 2020-2021 fiscal year, with the country soon going into a nationwide lockdown. Consumption dipped, supply chains broke down, and the economy slowed. Despite this, India's agrifood startup sector experienced an investment boom, with a 100% year-on-year jump in total venture funding.
Agfunder funding report
Farm Tech investing soared to $7.9 billion in 2020, topping 2019 investments by $2.3 trillion, or 41%, according to AgFunder’s latest Farm Tech Investment Report.
To put this in perspective, Farm Tech’s acceleration was about six percentage points greater than agrifoodtech overall -- that's foodtech and farm tech combined -- and 37 percentage points higher than global VC’s year-over-year increase in 2020 (which Crunchbase pegged at just 4%.)
Agfunder funding report
Our news site AFN conducted a series of interviews with the corporate venture capital arms of six of the world's leading agribusinesses to form the backbone of a deep dive into their activity, areas of focus and levels of investment over a five year period. This report compiles those interviews and offers a data snapshot of CVC investment in agriculture.
Agfunder funding report
European agrifoodtech ventures raised $3.3 billion in 2020, a 15% drop from 2019. But we expect the total investment tally to reach $3.8 billion as new 2020 deals come to light. At that level, Europe’s 2020 funding would only represent a 2.6% decrease from 2019, mostly on the back of a drop in late stage activity, as early stage investment activity increased.
Agfunder funding report
2020 was a year which turned even optimists into skeptics. Yet those working in China's agrifoodtech ecosystem have a lot to feel positive about.
While general private equity and VC investment levels sank 50% in China compared to 2019, agrifood startup investing increased 66.1% year-on-year, next to a 34.5% rise globally.
Agfunder funding report
What a year. It would be an understatement to say it’s been tough for most but for agrifoodtech, it was a blow-out year. Startups raised $26.1 billion in 2020, a 15.5% year-over-year increase, which we expect to increase to more than $30 billion as new 2020 deals come to light. This would represent 34.5% growth over 2019.
Agfunder funding report
We're just over halfway through 2020, and already it has been a year like no other in living memory. Given the economic implications of the global Covid-19 pandemic, we've put together a mid-year review to take stock of the agrifoodtech investment landscape during these unprecedented times. Amazingly, the sector has held up well, raising $8.8 billion in total across 798 deals, according to currently available data.
Agfunder funding report
FY2020 was a difficult financial year in India, with a slowdown in consumption growth, deteriorating public finances, and overall economic malaise. And that's before Covid-19 arrived on the scene. Total investments in Indian agrifood startups for FY2020 stood at $1.1 billion, down 56% from FY2019. Deal volume saw marginal growth with 133 deals in FY2020 compared to 125 deals in the previous year.
Agfunder funding report
In our inaugural ASEAN agrifoodtech startup investment report we reveal the categories and investors driving this region's nascent industry. A total of $423 million was invested in startups innovating across Southeast Asia's food and agriculture segments in 2019. While that may seem low compared to more matrue markets like the US and Europe, it represents a 400% increase since 2014. And this year is set to surpass that with investment already estimated at around $350 million in the first half of 2020.
Agfunder funding report
It was another record-breaking year for European Agri-FoodTech as investment reached $3.4bn in 2019, a 70% jump on 2018. That growth was consistent across upstream and downstream innovation investment as investors became more comfortable with the industry overall.
Europe also increased it's slice of the global agri-foodtech pie accounting for 17% of the global total, up from under 10% in 2018. Key categories featured in this special collaboration with F&A Next include Novel Farming Systems, eGrocery, robotics on the farm and in the supply chain, and Innovative Food, including alternative protein.
Agfunder funding report
Farm Tech startup investment has grown 370% since 2013, reaching $4.7bn in 2019 across 695 deals. That consistent growth bucks global venture capital investment trends across sectors where funding dropped year-over-year in 2019. It also bucks the trend for investment in agri-foodtech -- innovation across the food supply chain -- where investment levels have been more volatile over the years.