Agriculture contributes approximately 80-86% of the food supply chain's total emissions, and startups are playing their role in improving yields, profits and food security, while reducing the environmental impact of farming.
The good news: VC investment of tech-enabled solutions for the agriculture sector reached $6.8 billion, a 33% increase since last year and 385% since 2016. Among the largest funding rounds in 2021 were companies working on crop protection technology, vertical farming and agritech marketplaces.
The bad news: Countries with the highest cost of climate change have received the least agritech VC investment since 2016. Africa and Latin America, two regions with high climate costs, have received half the agritech VC investment of single countries like France, where climate cost also remains relatively lower.
The bottom line: Although agritech startups have been slower to scale, so far, we need to think big about the category. BlackRock's CEO Larry Fink said that "the next 1,000 unicorns, or startups worth at least $1 billion, will be involved in climate technology". Agriculture, being one of the largest environmental polluters, will be a big part of that.
🇮🇱 Future Meat Technologies have raised $320 million at $600 million valuation. The funding will go towards building a new facility in the US. Now, Future Meats operates the "world's first" industrial cultured meat facility in Israel. Big Food companies Müller Group and Tyson Foods participated in the round. Both companies have previously invested in the alternative protein space.
🇺🇸 The EVERY Company (formerly Clara Foods), a San Francisco-based precision fermentation company, raised $175 million Series C. Most alternative protein research and investment has focused on end-products. However, to scale production of end-products and reach price parity with meat products, a reliable supply of new ingredients and processing technology has to be developed. The EVERY Company is part of 167 startups focusing on upstream solutions, including sourcing, processing, product development and distribution solutions for B2C alt protein brands
🇦🇺 Pet Circle, a Sydney-based pet food and medication company, reached a unicorn status following a $125 million Series C. The pet industry was growing even before Covid-19. However, as lockdowns kicked in, consumers have increasingly spend lavishly on taking care of their pets. The industry is expected to reach $275 billion by 2030.
Other notable foodtech deals from around the globe:
🇮🇳 Agrostar, an Indian B2B agri-marketplace, secured $70 million Series D to "double down on omnichannel strategy".
🇺🇸 Dream Harvest, a US-based vertical farming company, raised $50 million to scale production.
🇳🇱 Pieter Pot, a Dutch packaging-free online supermarket, bagged €9 million to grow its sustainable online grocery service. The startup grew 10x year-over-year.
🇺🇸🇩🇪 Kraft Heinz acquired 85% of Just Spices, a German direct-to-consumer spices company, for an undisclosed amount. Just Spices has more than 170 spice blends and an annual revenue of $68 million.
🛑 As food prices rise, survey finds thresholds where consumers stop buying via Fooddive.
🛒 The Pop Up Grocer 2022 Food Trend Report via Medium.
🚀 Uber Eats Makes Food Delivery To Outer Space via PR Newswire
🍔 Impossible Foods Opened a Delivery-Only, Plant-Based Burger Chain via Foodandwine.
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Tip of the week
Dealroom users are now able to see transactions on private and public lists! Take for example, the online grocery landscape. Go to "List View" and then click on "Show transactions" at the top right corner of the table, right below "Advanced Filters". Users are able to filter the transaction in a similar fashion to other tabs. This works on private lists too. Scout for startups, share with colleagues (though "Add more owners" feature in the list) and deep-dive into the data collaboratively.
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