AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the headlines, we analyze the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily, our team of award-winning journalists delivers deeper insight on the growing foodtech, agtech and climate tech industries. A multimedia publication, AgFunderNews is a division of AgFunder, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms.
Agrifoodtech funding by the numbers, World Agri-Tech video mashup, Protix heads east, the world's largest single-cell protein plant, Cargill's AI strategy
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Greetings from World Agri-Tech and Future Food-Tech in San Francisco, where Louisa launched AgFunder's global agrifoodtech investment report. The findings? Global funding was flat in 2025, but there is a noticeable shift in where capital is headed—upstream, where startups are tackling energy, climate, and supply chain challenges with deeptech based on complex science and engineering. AI, of course, is eating everyone's lunch, but investors say in agrifood it is shifting from models to applications embedded in workflows. “Agrifood is one of the largest "real economy" opportunity sets where workflows are still under-digitized, so ROI is unusually tangible,” noted Maarten Goossens at Anterra Capital. Also this week:
And finally... The new CEO at Dutch insect ag pioneer Protix explains why he is turning his attention to Southeast Asia: “It’s just much more cost-effective." Have a fantastic week! Louisa, Jenn, and Elaine New report: Agrifoodtech funding is flat but the story is shifting Agrifoodtech is not going to produce a banner funding year in 2026, but the composition of capital continues to shift in ways that matter. Jennifer Marston Dutch insect ag firm Protix shifts focus to Asia: ‘We could be cost competitive there from day one’ "Our new strategy is buy and build in Asia,” says CEO Maiko van der Meer. "It’s just much more cost effective." Elaine Watson 🎥 Ag’s new toolkit: AI, genomics, and robotics converge at World Agri-Tech New tech is reshaping agriculture, compressing R&D timelines, boosting yields, and unlocking new modes of action in crop protection. Elaine Watson Construction is expected to start in the second half of 2026, with commercialization in 2028. Elaine Watson Farmers using AgZen’s RealCoverage tech have been able to reduce chemical inputs by 30-50% without a drop off in yields. Elaine Watson Unpacking Cargill’s AI strategy to transform R&D in an increasingly complex agrifood system In 2026, R&D is about learning faster, scaling responsibly and reducing risk in an increasingly complex system, says Cargill. Jennifer Marston Plus: eternal.ag emerges from stealth. Jennifer Marston Navigating AI’s impact on public and private markets Commoditization of software could push value toward hardware and the physical world. Rob Leclerc Buckle up, say investors as AI reshapes agrifoodtech: ROI may be “unusually tangible’ "Physical AI agtech” could “draw a lot of capital and bring back 'tourist' VC," predicts Antony Yousefian at The First Thirty. Elaine Watson Leaps by Bayer’s PJ Amini on exits, epigenetics, AI-driven discovery and his ‘50% rule’ Unicorns are vanishingly rare in agrifoodtech, says PJ Amini. "But people still pay to go to the zoo to see a bunch of zebras." Elaine Watson Crop Diagnostix launches RNA-based crop health early-warning system RNA reveals plants' real-time biological response to stress, which occurs long before conventional tools detect problems. Elaine Watson
The other Iran War crisis: It's threatening global food supplies Mother Jones China reins in fertilizer exports as war pushes up global prices Bloomberg The packaging crisis about to hit food and beverage FoodNavigator-USA Lessons from $18 billion in agtech failures Sarah Nolet, LinkedIn Why farming’s data problem is an AI problem — and what plants can do about it Unite.AI Beyond Meat CEO says 'It's just not the moment for plant-based meat' after rebrand Plant-based News
Solinftec expands US footprint 243%, deploys 100+ autonomous robots - Featuring Solinftec! Morning Ag Clips 2025 Developing Markets AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2025 Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report 10 years in agrifoodtech: an 83-page e-zine Climate Capital: Financing Adaptation Pathways for Smallholder Farmers Resurrect Bio (norwich, UK) Eratani (Karawang, West Java) Varaha (Andhra, Visakhapatnam, India) Biotech quality control technician Future Fields (Edmonton, Canada) Tepbac (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) Sales manager, poultry, France Phagos (France/remote) ♥️ our newsletter? Forward to a friend or subscribe here |
AgFunderNews
AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the headlines, we analyze the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily, our team of award-winning journalists delivers deeper insight on the growing foodtech, agtech and climate tech industries. A multimedia publication, AgFunderNews is a division of AgFunder, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms.
Express interest in investing in Fund V. AgFunder is a top 100 VC, according to TIME and Statista. Is your business ready for AI analytics? Find out more here. This week: Anxiety is mounting over the ripple effects of the war with Iran, with experts warning that while domestic energy production may offer some buffer, it won’t shield US farmers, food companies, or consumers from global price shocks. Elsewhere, Beyond Meat says its foray into beverages is a logical move—and not an admission of...
Express interest in investing in Fund V. AgFunder is a top 100 VC, according to TIME and Statista. Is your business ready for AI analytics? Find out more here. This week: Anxiety is mounting over the ripple effects of the war with Iran, with experts warning that while domestic energy production may offer some buffer, it won’t shield US farmers, food companies, or consumers from global price shocks. Elsewhere, Beyond Meat says its foray into beverages is a logical move—and not an admission of...
Express interest in investing in Fund V. AgFunder is a top 100 VC, according to TIME and Statista. Is your business ready for AI analytics? Find out more here. The insect ag industry is littered with the corpses of startups who found out the hard way that scaling biological systems is not as easy as it looks, prompting a wave of think pieces suggesting its days are numbered. Despite the sector’s well-publicized struggles, however, its death may well have been exaggerated say key stakeholders....