Agrifood Tech
Image credit: Kern Tec
Dealflow | September 27, 2023
Kern Tec lands $12.8 million to make dairy alternatives from upcycled produce
ImpactAlpha, September 27 – The one-third of grown food that goes to waste is an enormous lost opportunity. It’s also an environmental liability, …
Photo credit: Complete Farmer
Smallholder Agriculture | September 25, 2023
Complete Farmer nets $10 million to connect Ghana’s farmers
ImpactAlpha, September 25 – Complete Farmer started as a “crowdfarming” platform to connect Ghana’s smallholder farmers to funders. It has grown into an …
Photo credit: Barrix
Frontier and Growth Markets | September 6, 2023
Omnivore sells its stake in Barrix to Sumitomo to notch another exit
ImpactAlpha, September 6 – Omnivore, one of the first dedicated agtech investors in India, co-led Barrix Agro’s first institutional investment round in 2013. …
Africa | August 28, 2023
Kentegra Biotechnology in Kenya scores $15 million for organic crop treatments
ImpactAlpha, August 28 – Imported crop treatments are expensive for smallholder farmers in Africa. Kentegra Biotechnology is helping farmers substitute affordable bio-pesticides for …
Photo by Phospholutions.
Agrifood Tech | August 17, 2023
Phospholutions secures more than $10 million for sustainable phosphorus fertilizer
ImpactAlpha, August 17 — Excess nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from fertilizers can lead to toxic algae blooms. Pennsylvania-based Phospholutions has raised over $10 …
Agrifood Tech | July 20, 2023
A bigger helping of catalytic grant capital can fuel new solutions to food waste
Over the last few years, the main story around U.S. food waste funding has been that private capital has started to pay attention and invest …
Dealflow | July 10, 2023
eFishery rakes in $200 million for sustainable seafood in Indonesia
ImpactAlpha, July 10 — Indonesian aquaculture tech venture eFishery has raised $200 million from ResponsAbility, Malaysian public pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan, Abu …
Agrifood Tech | July 1, 2023
Connecting Indian farmers to global markets
David Bank chats with FarMart’s Samridhi Singh in the next conversation in our series from the recent Salzburg Global Seminar on “Connecting Capital …
Dealflow | June 30, 2023
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Ready or not, here comes lab-grown meat
ImpactAlpha, June 30 — Last week’s approval by the US Department of Agriculture for chicken products Upside Foods and Good Meat sounded the …
Frontier and Growth Markets | June 29, 2023
Omnivore raises $150 million for its third India agrifood tech fund
ImpactAlpha, June 29 – Omnivore secured $150 million in a first close of its third agrifood impact tech fund. The Mumbai-based impact investor …
Agrifood Tech | June 28, 2023
Joyful Ventures raises $23 million to invest in sustainable proteins
ImpactAlpha, June 28 – Joyful Ventures has raised $23 million of a targeted $25 million to invest in technologies that it believes will …
From left to right: Shayna Harris and Noramay Cadena | Photo credit: Supply Change Capital.
Dealflow | June 27, 2023
Illumen Capital and MassMutual back Supply Change Capital to invest in the future of food
ImpactAlpha, June 27 — LA- and Chicago-based venture fund Supply Change Capital is gearing up for the final close of its planned $40 …
Dealflow | June 16, 2023
Deal spotlight: Collapse of AeroFarms augurs a reckoning for vertical farming
ImpactAlpha, June 16 – AeroFarms has gone from the poster child of farming’s high-tech urban future to a cautionary tale. The Newark, NJ-based …
Photo credit: Source.ag
Agrifood Tech | June 8, 2023
Source.ag bags $27 million to give greenhouses an AI boost
ImpactAlpha, June 8 – Greenhouses provide climate-stable environments for growing food, while reducing water use and inputs needed on traditional outdoor farms. “The …
Frontier and Growth Markets | April 27, 2023
Brazil’s Arado raises $12 million to give smallholder farmers a tech edge
ImpactAlpha, April 27 – In one of Latin America’s most industrialized agriculture markets, Arado is doubling down on its support for small producers. …
Agrifood Tech | April 20, 2023
Aqua-Spark invests in sustainable aquaculture startups in Vietnam and Finland
ImpactAlpha, April 20 – Aqua-Spark was one of the earliest investors in the “blue economy,” focusing on an agrifood niche at a time …
Africa | April 17, 2023
Secha Capital’s investment in South Africa’s FarmTrace will support growth and employee ownership
ImpactAlpha, April 17 – Private equity firm Secha Capital made its name as an early investor in South Africa’s bread and butter businesses. …
Impact Tech | April 13, 2023
Scotland’s Solasta Bio’ secures £4 million for sustainable agri-inputs
ImpactAlpha, April 13 — The global market for insecticides is dominated by synthetic pesticides that are harmful to the environment and may even …
Image by sergiorojoes on Freepik
Dealflow | April 11, 2023
AGRI3 Fund secures $13.5 million to catalyze capital for sustainable agriculture and forestry
ImpactAlpha, April 11 — AGRI3 Fund has raised $13.5 million in equity funding from the Global Environment Facility, a multilateral trust fund based …
Frontier and Growth Markets | January 26, 2023
Climate tech venture Ecozen raises $25 million, giving early investors a partial exit
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ecozen, in Pune, India, launched a decade ago to provide affordable, clean energy-fueled products for India’s smallholder farmers. The …
Dealflow | December 16, 2022
Deal spotlight: Plant-based versus lab-grown meat opportunity
ImpactAlpha, December 16 – 2022 has been a hard year for champions of the plant-based diet. The economic downturn, VC slowdown and rising …
Image credit: NotCo
Dealflow | December 15, 2022
NotCo lands $70 million for its line of plant-based foods as it readies an IPO
ImpactAlpha, December 15 – Chilean food company NotCo launched in 2015 with an animal-free mayonnaise designed by artificial intelligence software and has since …
Amy Novogratz and Mike Velings | Photo by Aqua-Spark.
Dealflow | December 5, 2022
Aqua-Spark secures €15 million from Silverstrand Capital for sustainable aquaculture
ImpactAlpha, December 5 — Utrecht-based impact fund Aqua-Spark has secured a €15 million ($15.8 million) investment from Singapore-based family office Silverstrand Capital. The …
Photo credit: IFAD
Frontier and Growth Markets | November 16, 2022
Katapult’s Africa accelerator zeros in on food security
ImpactAlpha, November 16 – Insect farming in Ghana. Aquaculture in Kenya. Land restoration in Morocco. Seven of the nine startups in the Norway-based impact …
Low-carbon transition | November 10, 2022
Radical Ventures plants $9 million in seed funding for ranch management
ImpactAlpha, November 10 — Billings, Montana-based Enriched Ag uses machine-learning to help U.S. ranchers reduce emissions, improve soil health and generate revenues from …
Agrifood Tech | October 25, 2022
Misfits Market finds an (im)perfect solution to the problems of food waste and surplus produce
The imperfect produce channels space took a major step forward last month, toward mainstreaming and potential adoption with the announced acquisition of Imperfect Foods by market leader Misfits …
Photo by Advanta.
Smallholder Agriculture | October 25, 2022
KKR Global Impact takes a $300 million stake in seed platform Advanta Enterprises
ImpactAlpha, October 25 — KKR Global Impact, the $1.3 billion impact fund of private equity giant KKR, has acquired a 13.3% of Advanta …
Photo by Propagate.
Dealflow | October 12, 2022
Propagate scores $10 million to help farms transition to agroforestry
ImpactAlpha, October 12 — Agroforestry, the integration of trees in agricultural production, promises to sequester carbon, decrease erosion, reduce nutrient loss and increase …
Photo credit: CCS Logistics
Frontier and Growth Markets | October 5, 2022
A $150 million fund aims to curb food waste by investing in Africa’s cold chain
ImpactAlpha, October 5 – Fragmented supply chains, inadequate technology and unpredictable power cause nearly half of food produced in Africa to go to waste. …
Photo by Bond Pet Foods.
Agrifood Tech | September 13, 2022
Bond Pet Foods raises $17.5 million to make lab-grown meat for pets
ImpactAlpha, September 13 — Animal byproducts used in pet food are less carbon-intensive than other types of meat, but they are still derived …
Dealflow | September 8, 2022
Misfits Market acquires Imperfect Foods to consolidate the food-waste reduction market
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — Even amid the downturn in venture funding this year, significant raises for companies in food waste management and upcycling …
Agrifood Tech | September 5, 2022
Silver linings in an uncertain fundraising market for food waste innovation
We have entered a strange and challenging funding environment brought about by inflation and economic uncertainty – the two, of course, are inevitably …
Photo credit: Loopworm
Dealflow | August 25, 2022
Omnivore backs Loopworm’s network of insect farms with $3.4 million
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – Bangalore-based Loopworm works with a network of smallholder farmers to raise insects that can be converted to animal and pet …
Photo by Radoslaw Prekurat on Unsplash
Dealflow | August 12, 2022
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Food waste solutions
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 12 – Companies and governments are recognizing the cost savings of curbing food waste, as well as the social and climate benefits. …
Green Generation Fund's founders Manon Sarah Littek and Janna Ensthaler. Photo by Green Generation Fund.
Impact Tech | August 10, 2022
Green Generation Fund raises €100 million for food- and green-tech ventures
ImpactAlpha, August 10 — The women-led fund based in Berlin is looking to invest in up to 30 early-stage companies in the U.S. …
Photo by Afresh.
Agrifood Tech | August 9, 2022
Afresh rakes in $115 million to help grocers reduce food waste
ImpactAlpha, August 9 — The San Francisco-based company developed an AI-based system to help grocery store owners manage fresh food inventory and sales …
Photo credit: Akorn
Frontier and Growth Markets | August 3, 2022
Morocco’s UM6P Ventures backs U.S. and Israeli food tech startups
ImpactAlpha, August 3 – UM6P Ventures, the venture investing arm of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, launched last year, supports early-stage science and tech startups …
Photo credit: Enko
Climate Finance | July 29, 2022
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Climate-smart agriculture
ImpactAlpha, July 29 — Farmers around the world will need to produce about 70% more food by 2050 to feed an estimated nine …
Pompano Beach, Florida
Agrifood Tech | July 27, 2022
Food banks and food donors get a tech makeover to reduce hunger – and food waste
We are living in the technological age, and a trend ReFED has been watching closely is how this is affecting food rescue, which …
Photo credit: Enko
Agrifood Tech | July 27, 2022
Gates Foundation-backed Enko raises $70 million for sustainable crop treatments
ImpactAlpha, July 27 – Enko uses machine learning and drug discovery to develop non-chemical modes of killing agricultural pests and weeds. The Connecticut-based company …
Image credit: Wheelocity
India | July 19, 2022
Wheelocity raises $12 million to cut waste from India’s food supply chain
ImpactAlpha, July 19 – Waste of fresh food is a common problem in emerging markets where many small farmers lack access to cooling technologies, …
Dealflow | July 12, 2022
Ankur Capital backs impact tech ventures Vegrow and String Bio
ImpactAlpha, July 12 — Mumbai-based impact fund Ankur Capital seeks out early and even unproven businesses that are using technology to drive down …
Dealflow | July 11, 2022
Argentinian agtech startup SIMA raises $2 million to help farmers optimize crop yields
ImpactAlpha, July 11 – SIMA’s mobile app is used by farmers to monitor 129 million fields of soy, wheat and other crops across …
Amy Bell, The Cook's Nook
Agents of Impact | July 8, 2022
Amy Bell, The Cook’s Nook: Planting seeds for impact
ImpactAlpha, Jul. 8 – Amy Bell’s early work as a financier and advisor to impact funds and social enterprises helped establish the nascent field …
Photo credit: Educe Cooperativa
Smallholder Agriculture | June 16, 2022
Investing to transform food systems in the face of a global crisis
The growing food crisis has become a global catastrophe. The combined impact of the invasion of Ukraine, climate-related disasters like droughts, and other …