AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the headlines, we analyse the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily news, 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 Inc, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms.
Infinite Roots bags $58m for mycelium tech, The Ozempic effect on Big Food, agrifood investment trends, agroforestry in action
The big story this week: Are GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic an ‘existential threat’ to the food industry or an opportunity for some creative thinking? Elsewhere, Infinite Roots raised a cool $58m to scale its mycelium-based platform, AgFunder portco IGS netted $28.6m for vertical farming tech, Bluewhite raised $39m to expand its ag robotics operation, while Elo Life Systems bagged $20.5m to scale its plant breeding tech.
We've also got some highlights from the recent cell ag innovation day at Tufts University, while agtech editor Jenn Marston caught up with Roberto Viton at Valoral Advisors to explore why such a small percentage of global investment capital is going into agrifood, despite growing awareness of the industry's contribution to climate change.
Finally, does money really grow on trees? Yes, says agroforestry startup Propagate in this week's Meet the founder interview. But farmers looking to plant them need support and upfront capital.
Have a great weekend! Louisa, Elaine, and Jenn
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Industry news
At a time when many alt protein companies are struggling to raise funds, Infinite Roots (formerly Mushlabs) has netted $58m from investors including German food retail giant (REWE) and the holding company behind Haribo (HRH). By Elaine Watson
The capital injection will also help advance work to develop Cavendish bananas engineered to resist the devastating fungal disease Fusarium wilt. By Elaine Watson
'This year is going to be the toughest one in my view,' says Roberto Viton at Valoral Advisors. By Jennifer Marston
The “seven-figure” JDA will develop saffron and other bioactives made via plant cell culture. By Elaine Watson
Plus... fresh funding for whole cut alt meat startup Chunk Foods and precision fermentation co C16 Bio. By Jennifer Marston
Interviews, opinions and analysis
Are GLP-1 drugs an ‘existential threat’ to the food industry or an opportunity for some creative thinking? By Elaine Watson
We’re kidding ourselves if we think we can make the unit economics add up for cultivated meat without deploying ‘much much larger’ bioreactors, says Ark Biotech. By Elaine Watson
Meet the founder: Money really does grow on trees, says Propagate’s Ethan Steinberg. But agroforestry requires patient capital
AgFunder portfolio co!
Farmers looking to plant trees among their crops need support, and upfront capital, says Propagate CEO. By Elaine Watson
Armed with $8.7m in fresh capital, Nasekomo builds insect ag franchise model
Insect farming is not for the faint-hearted. So what business models make sense, and who is going to fund the next wave of facilities? By Elaine Watson
Guest article: The greenwashing effect of GWP* – the new methane metric pushed by Big Agriculture
Is GWP* the best way to measure of methane emissions? By AgFunderNews guest contributor Nusa Urbancic
In case you missed it
The startup's enzymatic technology converts up to 80% of the sugars in juice into dietary fibers and non-digestible sugars. By Elaine Watson
New funding will enable SeeTree to work with new crop types and expand into new territories. By Jennifer Marston
How Ozempic changed my mind, body – and investment strategy
By guest contributor Bharat Vasan
What we're reading
The dubious climate gains of turning soil into a carbon sink
Financial Times
Fortune
Sea level rise is already changing what farmers can grow
Civil Eats
Scientists to USDA: Tackle America’s meat consumption, or the climate crisis will force you to
Green Queen
The start-ups making robots a reality AgFunder portfolio co!
GatesNotes
Is cultivated meat a threat to farming? EU countries clash over cellular agriculture’s future
FoodNavigator
The next farm bill could fix checkoff programs
Civil Eats
AgFunder research
2023 Asia-Pacific AgriFoodTech Investment Report
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2023 Africa AgriFoodTech Investment Report
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2023 Latam AgriFoodTech Investment Report
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2023 India AgriFoodTech Investment Report
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2023 Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report
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Jobs at AgFunder portfolio companies
MycoWorks (Union, South Carolina)
Scientist, global regulatory affairs
Greenlight Biosciences (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina)
Cargamos (Mexico)
Materials development engineer
Modern Synthesis (London)
Verdant Robotics (Hayward, California)
Apeel (Goleta, California)
Faeth Therapeutics (remote)
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AgFunderNews
AgFunderNews reports on the evolution of the global food and agriculture system. By going beyond the headlines, we analyse the people, companies and technologies aiming to improve human and planetary health. Publishing daily news, 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 Inc, one of the world’s most active agrifoodtech venture capital firms.
A lot of agrifoodtech founders in this dry capital environment are "beating their heads against the wall with the conviction that the wall will break before their heads do,” observes Paul Shapiro at The Better Meat Co. "That said, deals are still getting done, and important technology is still being developed." Many investors got their fingers burned in the heady days of 2020-22 by throwing silly money at this space, points out Magi Richani at molecular farming co Alpine Bio. But the problems...
If you've been following the Chinese drones saga, it finally came to a conclusion of sorts this week as the US Congress passed a defense spending bill that did not, in the end, block the activities of ag spray drone market leader DJI. But there was a catch, reports Elaine Watson... Meanwhile, Brazilian early-stage investor SP Ventures chatted with us about the ups and downs of raising its new fund in a challenging economic environment. Elsewhere, we quizzed food and ag leaders on what tech...
Greetings from London, where the AgFunderNews team has spent the week at the World Agri-Tech and Future Food-Tech summits delving into everything from the disconnect between regulatory and commercial timetables for novel foods and ag biologicals to ongoing questions over how to fund the transition to regenerative agriculture. As for cultivated meat, with private capital increasingly hard to come by, "There's a valley of death we're not going to cross as an industry without a massive infusion...