Two from AgFunderNews:
December 30:
2024 was ‘a year of reckoning for agtech’
As more than one person interviewed for this article noted, 2024 was something of a year of reckoning for agtech.
That was certainly true of agtech funding, which has staggered along for the last couple years as generalist investors leave the sector and a capital crunch continues. Some even believe we’re on the path to new financing models for agtech, particularly as the venture capital approach may not always be the best fit for the industry.
Arguably more important than money is the need to build further trust with farmers — trust about the efficacy of products and about solving problems they actually have. Even more crucial is making the economic returns of investing in agtech a reality for these growers, no matter where they are in the world.
The following roundup delves into a few areas of agtech that saw notable developments this year; it is not meant to be exhaustive. As always, drop us a line with your own thoughts on the last 12 months in agtech.
****
Regenerative ag: financing the transition
The question of how to finance the transition to regenerative agriculture was prominent in 2024. Specialty shops like Mad Capital in the US and HeavyFinance in Europe grew in prominence as ways for farmers to hopefully get access to better financing and technical assistance for transitioning....
****
Ag biologicals: past the peak of inflated expectations?
The ag biologicals sector, which includes biocontrols to protect crops and biostimulants to enhance growth/productivity, saw numerous developments this year, scientific and otherwise.
New advances in gene sequencing have advanced products in many cases. Meanwhile, new encapsulation technologies from companies like Agrospheres have gone far in solving the many delivery challenges for ag biologicals.
All the major agrochemical companies, including Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and BASF, now have departments dedicated to biologicals, and have collectively made many acquisitions in the space over the last decade. And as the Mixing Bowl’s well-known market map shows, the industry isn’t wanting for startup activity.....
****
Indoor agriculture: ‘another year of reckoning’
In many ways, 2024 was the year of the strawberry for vertical farming.
The sector’s most widely publicized success story of the year was Oishii, which kicked off 2024 with a $134 million Series B round for its vertical farming operation that grows ultra-premium strawberries. The US-based firm closed the Series B at $150 million later in the year. Beyond fundraising (which anyone in vertical farming could tell you isn’t a reliable measure of longevity), Oishii also expanded into more grocery stores across the US, opened a solar-powered production facility, prepped for international expansion, and even released its own strawberry-inspired body wash.....
....MUCH MORE
And December 25:
5 ridiculous agrifood stories from 2024
