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.
Mega funds from Astanor and Humble Growth, AeroFarms emerges from Ch. 11, all talk no corporate action on regen ag?
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Last call for AgFunder Fund IV: $90m closed already; final close of $100-125m soon
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Rob Leclerc is speaking at the SOSV Climate Tech Summit, September 26-27. Register to join 8,000 participants here.
Sofia Ramirez, Louisa Burwood-Taylor, and Jenn Marston will be at the Rethink events in London at the end of September. Email sofia@agfunder.com to arrange a meeting.
Africa agrifoodtech investment report, 2023 New!
NEW REPORT: African agrifoodtech startups face headwinds as VC funding drops sharply from record-breaking 2022
By John Njiraini
Download the free report here
Industry and funding news
Impact investor Astanor Ventures closes second agrifoodtech fund on €360m
By Jennifer Marston
Humble Growth closes $312m growth equity fund for disruptive CPG brands
By Elaine Watson
AeroFarms emerges from Ch. 11 with new CEO, focus on VA farm
By Jennifer Marston
Food companies aren’t all walking the talk on regenerative agriculture, says FAIRR investor network
By Elaine Watson
Hoxton Farms opens cultivated fat pilot facility to 'recreate experience meat eaters crave’ AgFunder portfolio co!
By Elaine Watson
Modern Synthesis and GANNI unveil ‘Bou Bag’ made by bacteria AgFunder portfolio co!
By Elaine Watson
Foodtech VC funding declined for 6th consecutive quarter, but deal count is up, says PitchBook
By Elaine Watson
The Week in AgriFoodTech: MycoWorks opens mycelium plant, Flagship et al pump $250m into Indigo Ag AgFunder portfolio co!
By Jennifer Marston and Elaine Watson
Data snapshot: Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt lead the way for agrifoodtech investment in Africa
By Jennifer Marston
Interviews, opinions and analysis
Meet the founders: Israel’s Fresh Start incubator on what makes a great pitch, red flags, and ‘coachable’ entrepreneurs
By Elaine Watson
From salt-tolerant wheat to Robusta coffee that tastes like Arabica, two climate-smart startups to watch AgFunder portfolio cos!
By Elaine Watson
Ancient grains need modern solutions: how sorghum and millets can nourish a climate-era world
By guest contributor Nate Blum
In case you missed it
Beyond Meat facing ‘existential threat’ says TD Cowen: ‘The core problem is the product’
By Elaine Watson
🎥 Impossible Foods CEO on marketing alt meat: ‘We insulted the very people we wanted to try our product, meat eaters’
By Elaine Watson
Should ag lenders and crop insurers offer ‘good soil discounts’ to farmers?
By Elaine Watson
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What we're reading
We thought we were saving the planet but we were planting a time bomb
New York Times (paywall)
‘Companies need to re-assess the way they communicate about their purchase of carbon credits’: EU agrees ban on ‘climate neutral’ claims by 2026
FoodNavigator
AI is giving the climate forecast for supply chains a makeover
Bloomberg
Supermarkets and shoppers must embrace vertical farming, our future depends on it
Forbes
Taste the ‘carbon’ difference: The problem with Sainsbury’s lower-carbon beef
Green Queen
The new colonialist food economy
The Nation
China expands farmland in bid to cut foreign food reliance
Financial Times (paywall)
AgFunder research
2023 Latam AgriFoodTech Investment Report
AgFunder
2023 India AgriFoodTech Investment Report
AgFunder
2023 Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report
AgFunder
Jobs at AgFunder portfolio companies
Senior manager, farm operations and logistics
Nobell Foods (remote)
Greenhouse assistant manager, maintenance and facilities
Nobell Foods (south San Francisco, California)
Senior director, VP regulatory
Nobell Foods (south San Francisco, California)
Commercialization manager
FYTO (Petaluma, California)
Compliance associate
Retailo Technologies (Karachi, Pakistan)
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. A high-profile startup making plant-based coatings to extend the shelf-life of fresh produce, Apeel was “an American success story until MAHA influencers sank it,” according to a recent headline in The Free Press. A brief look at the timeline suggests things are a little more complicated. However, three years spent battling social...
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. Two years after emerging from bankruptcy, biomanufacturing specialist Amyris is not yet profitable, but is a “drastically different company," says CEO Kathy Fortmann. Elsewhere, California-based Windfall Bio—a startup with tech to convert waste methane from farms and landfill sites into organic fertilizer—has ceased operations and is...
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: From MAHA’s glyphosate tug-of-war with Trump to patent cliffs to rising fertilizer costs, the cracks in the use of traditional crop inputs are starting to resemble fault lines, says Jenn. And mainstream investors are now paying attention, notably Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan. Elsewhere, could novel lipid-based tech unlock a new...