From AgFunderNews, February 16:
Data Snapshot is a regular AFN feature in which we analyze agrifoodtech market investment data provided by our parent company, AgFunder.
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Startups developing biological inputs for crops raised just over $892 million worldwide last year, according to preliminary data from AgFunder.
That’s well over double their total funding haul for the previous year – indicating just how much interest in the space has grown.
Please note that this is an upward revision of AgFunder figures first quoted by Reuters earlier this month. Our data are adjusted using a model of how they will appear 12 months into the future based on historical trends, to take predicted reporting lags into account. As such, they may differ from earlier published versions of the same data.
Below, we list the top 15 biologicals funding deals from 2021, by US dollar amount raised.
We have included all private ventures working on a variety of biological crop inputs, including:
- Biofertilizers
- Biopesticides
- Biofungicides
- Biostimulants
- Other biological controls
Top 15 biological inputs deals, FY2021
Company Country Amount raised Stage Deal date Pivot Bio US $430 million D Jul AgBiome US $116 million D Sept Anuvia Plant Nutrients US $103 million C Feb Invaio Sciences US $88.9 million C May Invaio Sciences US $50 million Debt Oct Vestaron Corporation US $18.3 million B Feb BioPhero Denmark $16.8 million A Mar Gaiago France $15.4 million A Jul Groundwork BioAg Israel $11 million A May Micropep Technologies France $10.1 million A Aug Kula Bio US $10 million Seed May Provivi US $10 million C Feb AgroSustain Switzerland $5.19 million A Jul Lucent BioSciences Canada $4.2 million Seed Nov BigSIS UK $2.05 million Seed Oct By geography, of the top 15 deals:
- Eight (53%) involved companies headquartered in the US.
- France is second-placed with two deals (13%).
- Canada, Denmark, Israel, Switzerland, and the UK played host to one deal each.
By far the biggest deal in the biologicals space last year — and among the top 20 in agrifoodtech overall — was Pivot Bio‘s $430 million Series D round in July, which was co-led by DCVC and Temasek.
Pivot Bio is one of several startups offering an alternative to conventional nitrogen-based fertilizers by ‘programming’ microbes in the soil so that they produce more of the element in situ....
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