Early-stage ag and food tech investor Big Idea Ventures has launched its fifth portfolio company through its Generation Food Rural Partners (GFRP) fund.
AgTechNavigator catches up with PowerPollen, whose technology allows pollen to be collected, preserved, and applied on-demand, for significantly better pollination and higher yields for wind-pollinated crops.
Switzerland’s xFarm Technologies hopes to establish itself as a European agtech leader after integrating new technology into its digital platform to provide more solutions to help growers become more efficient and sustainable.
The Israeli company says securing this round of capital in today’s challenging economic climate is further validation of Greeneye’s mission to drive mainstream adoption of precision spraying technology in the US.
PitchBook’s latest Q1 2024 Agtech Report indicates a market undergoing a correction, with the wheat being separated from the chaff. Some sectors are hotter than others, meanwhile.
Founded in 2022, Cornell University spin out Orchard Robotics has engineered a vehicle-mounted, AI-powered camera system that gathers precision data about fruit on trees.
NPHarvest, a spin-off from Aalto University in Finland, has raised €2.2 million to bring its proprietary nutrient catcher machine to market. The hardware is the first of its kind, making it possible to catch nutrients on a real commercial level, the company...
Rock removal company TerraClear has announced its existing investors have poured an additional US$15 million into capturing the untapped US$2.7 rock management market. A 5,000-year-old problem finally has a solution, it says.
Founded in 2014, Weenat provides the agricultural community with agro-meteorological data to monitor the climatic and agronomic conditions of its plots in real time, from sowing to harvesting.
Singapore start-up Peptobiotics has raised US$6.2M in Series A funding to commercialise its antimicrobial peptide technology as it seeks to replace the use of antibiotics, firstly in aquaculture, and in the future in livestock.
We hear from Jacqueline Heard, CEO of crop protection company Enko Chem, which had one of the biggest global agtech venture capital deals in recent years from a company with at least one female founder.
Over the last 18 months there has been a notable shift in investor sentiment within the agtech sector, with the recent economic downturn casting a long shadow over the entrepreneurial landscape. Are we going to hell in a handcart? Is this an opportune...
Cargill Ventures invests in companies that align with Cargill's long-term growth objectives, says Erin VanLanduit, Head of Corporate Ventures at Cargill.
Lithuania-based agricultural finance provider HeavyFinance has raised €50 million to support sustainable farming in Europe. CEO and co-founder Laimonas Noreika tells AgTechNavigator why he foresees an increasing role of nature-based solutions like regenerative...
US-based Cquesta is leveraging gene editing to generate carbon credits for farmers, its CEO Michael Ott – who previously founded Rantizo, now the US’s largest dronespraying company – tells AgTechNavigator.
Danish-based NitroVolt has raised a pre-seed round of €750,000 to develop its ‘Nitrolyzer’ unit that enables a cheaper and local production of ammonia, using only air, water and electricity. It will use the funds for market expansion and to scale production...
Vertical farm Oishii, known for its premium strawberries and more recently a high-end tomato, is building out a larger, more sustainable facility that will increase its production capacity by “multiple folds” with the help of a $134m Series B fundraise...
Our 360-degree look at the latest agtech developments from across the globe features US grape breeder IFG’s newly patented grape variety, while a first-of-its-kind bee vaccine receives market approval in the US and Canada. Scroll through the photo gallery...
The continent’s agtech sector is rife with challenges but the potential rewards are huge, Sherief Kesseba, managing partner at Climate Resilient Africa Fund (CRAF), tells AgTechNavigator.
The Los Angeles-based agtech start-up – which provides financial solutions to farmers to improve supply chain efficiency – has raised US$38 million in Series D financing.
Agtech innovation is playing a critical role in addressing food security and environmental challenges. But it is also key to cracking the problem of an ageing farmer population threatening global agriculture, says Eatable Adventures founder and CEO José...
Biotech company HutanBio has just received £2.25 million to speed its plans to supply algae-based fuel to the global shipping and aviation sectors. We spoke to its chief executive Paul Beastall to learn how a new species of microalgae was found to enable...
Tree intelligence platform SeeTree claims it is poised to encompass new crop types and expand into new markets after a successful US$17.5 million fundraising round. AgTechNavigator caught up with CEO Israel Talpaz.
Boutique venture capital (VC) consulting and investment company ID Capital, which is the focus of this month’s Agtech Investor Profile feature, says China is poised to play a ‘catalytic role’ in sectors as diverse as bio-manufacturing and digitalisation...
FA Bio claims to be revolutionising sustainable agriculture with the discovery of superior microbes for game-changing bio-products which can increase crop yields, protect biodiversity and replace chemical inputs, minimising the environmental impacts of...
It is no secret that global agtech investments were hit in 2023. But Fiona Choppe-Magal from Cukierman Investment House stresses the reasons to be cheerful in the coming year.
Indonesian agtech start-up Semaai has raised US$4.7 million in a mix of equity and debt financing to expand its digital offerings for farmers and agri retailers in Central Java.
A new European Union project aims to make digital farming accessible to thousands of small farmers in the region. AgTechNavigator caught up with project coordinator Dionysios Solomos to learn more.
In the second edition of our Look Who's Funding series, we assess how BASF Venture Capital is seeking to revolutionise agriculture and improve overall sustainability through advanced technological solutions.
Danish agtech company Bioomix has raised US$6.7 million in an investment round led by Westhill Capital alongside existing investors Pre Seed Ventures and Planetary Impact Ventures.
Agriculture giant Bayer and leading UAE agri-food tech company Silal have joined forces in a ‘pioneering’ collaboration which aims to strengthen the agricultural landscape in the UAE and address climate change as a pivotal concern.
BiomEdit was recently awarded Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funding to develop a range of microbiome-based solutions to reduce methane emissions in beef and dairy cattle, whilst at the same time enhancing production efficiency. AgTechNavigator caught...
Guinea transitional government has received a consignment of agricultural supplies as part of the Emergency Food Production Project headed by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Early-stage agtech investor Big Idea Ventures has announced the launch of its second portfolio company through its Generation Food Rural Partners (GFRP) fund.
Venture capitalist (VC) and investment funds are crucial to helping agtech start-ups scale and fulfil their potential. But what are they looking for and what qualities should fledging firms possess? In the first of our AgTech Investor Portfolio Profiles,...
In the first of our features looking at how major MNCs are making waves in the global ag-tech start-up space, which shine the spotlight on PepsiCo and its Greenhouse Accelerator Programme with initiatives spanning IoT, pest control, eco-fertilizers and...
Nestlé is piloting a weather insurance scheme utilising satellite-based data and technology to provide financial protection for Indonesian farmers that are part of its supply chain.
Founded in 2019, Toopi Organics specialises in the collection and transformation of human urine into microbial plant biostimulants for agricultural use.
Canada-based Sollio Agriculture, the agri-business division of Sollio Cooperative Group, has inaugurated a new controlled-release fertiliser (CRF) production plant, which seeks to increase farmers’ access to novel yield-raising fertilisers.
Global technology heavyweight Siemens believes that Singapore is well-placed to emerge as a major ‘brain’ in vertical farming, on the back of its recent collaboration with local modern indoor hydroponics farm Artisan Green.
Indian agriculture and foodtech startups collectively secured USD2.4bn in funding in 2022, according to a new report, but this marked a 33% decrease compared to the $3.6 billion raised in 2021.
Indian FMCG major BL Agro has committed US$62.5mn in investment to purchase Leads Connect, one of the country’s most comprehensive agricultural technology firms, in a bid to increase its presence in the burgeoning sector.
The Agricultural Bank of China hopes its new “global matchmaking platform” will maximise the use of its data and fintech resources to create greater collaboration opportunities among both local and overseas companies in the agriculture sector.
The trajectory of investment activity within the agtech sector — which saw a steady decline commencing in Q2 2022 — appears to be stabilising as of Q2 2023, according to financial data and software firm PitchBook.
Oishii, a vertical farm growing Japanese omakase strawberries with 2-3x the sweetness of conventional US-grown strawberries, has closed $50m in Series A funding led by SPARX Group to scale its business for mass market consumption.
