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.
The rise and rise of BeeHero, LanzaTech enters food arena, Ÿnsect in trouble, Micropep's next steps, and a deep dive into aqua-tech funding...
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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 of public investment," predicted Mosa Meat's Robert Jones. That said, the funding winter currently engulfing the agrifoodtech sector won't last forever, said Laurent Vermer at Kharis Capital. "It’s a period of cleansing and resetting after some excess, and from my point of view, there are signs that we're moving towards spring, but it's going to be a long spring, and I'm not sure the summer will be as lush as the previous one." Have a great weekend! Louisa, Samuele, Elaine, and Jenn Industry news🎥 Precision pollination specialist BeeHero enters Latam market, predicts revenues of $70m+ in 2024 “We are getting closer to $100m in revenues,” says BeeHero cofounder Omer Davidi. “We expect to be there very soon. This year, we’ll probably exceed $70m." Elaine Watson Global demand for seafood is soaring but how well funded are aquatic food tech startups? Global demand for seafood is set to soar in the coming years, yet in the first half of 2024 funding to tech startups supporting the sector was down 40% compared to the first half of 2023. Samuele Gabbio LanzaTech is in the engineering design phase for a pilot facility expected to be operational in 2026 and has developed a roadmap to commercial-scale production in 2028. Elaine Watson The firm started protein production in Amiens over the summer, but needs to secure more funding to get to a scale whereby it can “ensure profitability.” Elaine Watson The startup's "breakthrough technology provides the missing link in delivering reliable field performance and opening up new markets for high-performance biopesticides,” claims Zebra Impact Ventures. Jennifer Marston Kinoko-Tech teams up with Hela to expand minimally processed, fungi-powered foods across APAC Kinoko-Tech, an Israeli startup specializing in zero-waste fungi-based fermentation, has struck a deal with Metaphor Foods, the innovation arm of Hela, to produce its minimally-processed fermented foods in APAC. Elaine Watson Regenerative agriculture must enhance soil health, productivity, and livelihoods for farmers, according to a new study from Bayer. Jennifer Marston Plus… DCVC Bio reels in $400m in its third fund... Jennifer Marston Interviews, opinions and analysisFresh off a funding round, Micropep discusses the promise of peptides for crop protection products After closing a $40 million Series B, Micropep now looks to bring its crop protection products based on micropeptides to market. Jennifer Marston ‘Innovation is a journey…’ Mondelez VP Dr. Ian Noble on crossing the valley of death with startups "If you bring big and small companies together in the wrong way, the bigger one tends to kill the smaller ones," says Dr. Ian Noble. Elaine Watson “The use of AI to evaluate problems in the natural world seems to carry the potential of reducing or losing our capacity for critical analysis and ecosystems thinking.” By guest contributor John Kempf In case you missed itMultiple startups can now make casein proteins without cows. But do the unit economics add up? By Elaine Watson Shaken, not stirred? hs-tumbler aims to disrupt the most basic task in food processing: mixing “These guys have looked at mixing and asked the question: could we do it in a fundamentally different way? And they’ve come up with a solution that is just so disruptive,” says Mondelēz International R&D chief Dr. Ian Noble. By Elaine Watson EXCLUSIVE: Brilliant Harvest emerges from stealth with AI-powered helpdesk for ag equipment dealers Under a deal with leading ag equipment dealer Rocky Mountain Equipment, Brilliant Harvest will provide the firm's 43 stores with their own dealer branded mobile app. By Elaine Watson What we're readingBloomberg EU Commission proposes EUDR implementation delay FeedNavigator Are we thinking about AI the right way? SFTW substack Ozempic goes from threat to opportunity for packaged food makers Bloomberg As war widens and costs mount, Israel’s economy is in ‘serious danger’ Washington Post Port strikes could be worse than pandemic for US feed sector FeedNavigator Revealed: the US government-funded ‘private social network’ attacking pesticide critics The Guardian Hurricane Helene devastates farms across the Southeast Agriculture Dive Clean Start: Startups experiment how to trap carbon dioxide with rock dust Featuring AgFunder portfolio co Eion! CNBC 10 years in agrifoodtech - a celebration and potted historyAccess our exclusive 83-page e-zine here AgFunder research2024 India AgriFoodTech Investment Report Climate Capital: Financing Adaptation Pathways for Smallholder Farmers 2024 Global AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 Asia-Pacific AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 Africa AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 Latam AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2023 India AgriFoodTech Investment Report Jobs at AgFunder portfolio companiesChinova Bioworks (Fredericton, New Brunswick) Greenhouse maintenance technician Alpine Bio (Gilroy, California) Senior director, regulatory affairs Apeel (remote, US) Enterprise account executive Trace Genomics (remote) PR and communications coordinator MycoWorks (Paris) Java software development analyst, senior Solinftec (remote) Office manager and executive assistant Hoxton Farms (London) phagos (Suresnes, France) Biodiversity strategist and business development manager 3Bee (hybrid, Italy) ♥️ our newsletter? 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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...
The big story this week: Perfect Day, which was hit with a $144m lawsuit from co-manufacturer Olon in April, fired back with a $200m counterclaim accusing Olon of “gross negligence and willful misconduct.” Elsewhere, firms supplying drones from Chinese manufacturer DJI warned that a proposed bill to curb DJI's US activities could have a devastating impact on US farmers. Meanwhile, Impossible Foods had news from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; a new report explored the regenerative ag...