2021

AgFunder AgriFoodTech
Investment Report
 AgFunder is a digitally-native
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 INTRODUCTION

A brief update on our methodology: we improve our dataset

Global AgriFoodTech continuously, meaning total figures from previous years’
reports will shift as our dataset becomes more accurate. In
in 2021 most charts and commentary, we include our predictions for
where totals will land 12 months from now to make our
What a year. To say it’s been tough is an understatement and comparisons more accurate. We’ve based this off of patterns
for anyone who has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, from inbound data across previous years.
we’re thinking of you.
As we observed in our Mid-Year review, now is the time to
Yet, for agrifoodtech, it’s been a blow-out year. Startups invest in agrifoodtech. The Covid-19 pandemic has
raised $26.1 billion in 2020, a 15.5% year-over-year increase, highlighted the importance of efficient supply chains and
which we expect to increase to more than $30 billion as new alternative ways of growing, processing, transporting and
2020 deals come to light. This would represent 34.5% growth selling food to consumers. Innovations in the midstream –
over 2019. between farmer and retailer – got a much-needed investment
boost. Food delivery gained new ground for obvious
Much of the increase was down to significant growth in late-
reasons, especially eGrocery, and we saw more investment
stage deals, where we saw investors doubling down on their
activity in Cloud Retail technologies supporting at-home
existing portfolio and the first-wave of agrifoodtech
dining. Trends towards food alternatives, particularly in the
innovations. Impossible Foods’ $500m and $200m rounds
protein space, continued unabated as consumers ask more
are a case in point. But positively, we also saw early-stage
questions about the origins of their food.
deals get bigger, as the second wave of agrifoodtech
innovators enjoy increasing sector recognition by a widening Thank you for reading and, as ever, we’re always open to
spectrum of venture capital investors. feedback and questions.

Louisa Burwood-Taylor and the AgFunder team

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 3

 SPECIAL THANKS

Cover & Section Images

Special thanks to our portfolio companies who contributed images to this year’s report

URB-E is building the future of last mile Lavva is one of the most
delivery, using electric scooter tech to nutritious plant-based yogurts on
bring fast, clean, and affordable same-day grocery shelves today, with more
delivery to every neighborhood in the than 50 billion live, vegan
world. probiotics to support gut health.
Learn more Learn more

Tevel is developing flying, autonomous

fruit pickers, starting with the apple
industry, to solve major labor challenges.
Yes, that’s flying robots!
Learn more

Atomo Coffee has molecularly mapped

conventional coffee and is rebuilding it
from the atom up by upcycling plant waste
on its mission to reduce the environmental
impact of coffee production.
Learn more

FYTO is developing novel, nutrient-

dense, non-GMO crops with ultra high-
yields and exceptional nutrient profiles
Jüsto is a full-stack fresh eGrocery retailer based in
using automated cultivation and Mexico. Its founders came from Cabify (Lyft of LatAm) and
harvesting systems. Groupon and have built a company that grew 16x in 2020.
Learn more Learn more

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 4

2020 Overview

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 5

Image courtesy of URB-E
 AgriFoodTech Funding Breakdown 2020
*

Upstream Downstream
Ag Biotech, Farm Management SW, Farm Robotics & Equipment In-store Restaurant & Retail, Online Restaurants & Mealkits,
Bioenergy & Biomaterials, Novel Farming, Agribusiness Marketplaces eGrocery, Restaurant Marketplaces, Home & Cooking
Midstream, Innovative Food

* *

* *

*projected increase as new deals come to light over next 12 months. See p 61
 YEAR-IN-REVIEW

Key Insights*
Investment upstream – in startups closer to the farm and Key category moves:
away from the consumer – surpassed downstream
investment for the first time in seven years.
⇢ Upstream investment increased 68% YoY to $15.8bn,
While investors continued to support important downstream surpassing downstream investment ($14.3bn) for the
categories such as eGrocery, they became more first time on record.
comfortable with upstream food production categories,
⇢ Investment in Innovative Food startups doubled to
many of which had Covid-19-related appeal.
$2.3bn, driven by alt protein startups as consumers
The $15.8 billion invested upstream was driven by the increasingly question the provenance of their food.
Midstream Tech and Innovative Food categories, which
⇢ Midstream Tech companies raised $5.3bn and closed
raised $5.3 billion and $2.3 billion respectively.
30% more deals YoY – including $1.6bn for Lineage
While the growth in investment for Midstream Tech startups Logistics – as investors supported an efficient supply
was enhanced by a whopping $1.6bn deal for cold chain chain.
tech company Lineage Logistics, the category still closed
⇢ Ag Biotech lost market share but still raised $1.6bn, a
nearly 30% more deals than in 2019.
60% YoY increase, dominated by gene editing tech.
Meanwhile, investment in Innovative Food startups doubled
⇢ eGrocery startups raised $5.1bn as several
year-over-year and deal activity grew nearly 60%.
companies raised multiple rounds during the year to
While losing market share to both categories, Ag Biotech support the aggressive demand brought on by the
still grew significantly in its own right, closing nearly 70% pandemic.
more deals and raising 60% in dollars.

*based on projected totals

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 7

 YEAR-IN-REVIEW

Key Insights*
Agrifoodtech is no longer an early-stage industry. The first It was exciting to see earlier-stage companies raise larger
wave of innovators across categories are maturing and rounds than the first wave of innovators. With talent moving
raising larger growth stage rounds. from first wave companies to second, we expect the sector
to accelerate rapidly.
The median deal size for growth and late-stage rounds
increased 29% and 17% respectively year-over-year.

“
“Agrifoodtech is no longer a niche, Early-stage activity increases
experimental and risky sector.
Early-stage agrifoodtech investing continued its
Median deal-size growth signals growth trend in 2020 with 10% more dollars
maturity of first wave innovation. invested, 15% more deals closed, and a 10%
increase in median deal size at the seed and Series
The increase in median deal sizes was also reflected in the A stages. This bucked a retreat in early-stage
wider global venture capital markets, according to investing in the wider VC market.
VenturePulse report, though not as acutely.
That positive trend applied only to upstream
The fact that Impossible Foods was able to quickly raise startups, which closed 30% more deals and nearly
$500m at the very start of the pandemic when uncertainty 50% more dollars YoY. Downstream activity
was high indicates the strength of investor conviction in the decreased, driven by a 15% decline in Retail &
category. It also points to how the breadth of capital Restaurant tech deal activity and a nearly 50% drop
available to foodtech startups has evolved. in dollar funding to Home & Cooking tech.

*based on projected totals

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 8

 YEAR-IN-REVIEW

Key Insights*
Investment in US companies regained market share in 2020 Investment by Geography
to 37% of deal activity and 51% of dollars committed (up
from 34% and 44% respectively). This bucked the trend of
⇢ US startups raised $15.45bn in 2020, a 56% YoY
the last few years where other geographies attracted more
increase and 30% YoY rise in number of deals,
substantial investment from domestic and overseas
regaining global market share.
investors as agrifoodtech ecosystems developed.
⇢ China remained in the number two spot because of
The return of capital to the US could be a slight flight to
large downstream deals. Its projected total is $5.6bn,
safety in the wake of the pandemic, as well as investors
though it closed 21% fewer deals YoY.
doubling down on previous and now more mature bets in
their portfolios, with US companies like Lineage Logistics, ⇢ The UK continues to lead the European region
Impossible Foods, and Nuro raising $500m+ rounds. Those despite Brexit-related uncertainty.
deals did not skew the analysis as there was also a 30%
⇢ Africa closed more deals (+30%) but raised 50% less
year-over-year increase in the number of deals in the US.
dollars due to its young and early-stage market.
China lost market share in deal activity terms, with a 21%
⇢ Colombia reached the top 15 because Rappi, its
drop in the number of deals. But some huge deals for
unicorn last mile delivery platform, raised $300m in
downstream services, particularly eGrocery, drove a 58%
last stage funding.
year-over-year increase in investment totals. China closed
mega-deals in several sectors outside of agrifood too, ⇢ Asia closed 7% more deals YoY.
according to VenturePulse.

Deal activity and investment in Europe remained relatively

unchanged YoY, with just a slight 5% increase in the number
of deals closed.
*based on projected totals

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 9

 YEAR-IN-REVIEW

Predictions for 2021 and beyond

While there is a lot of uncertainty and it feels like anything eGrocery continues to upend traditional retail. and phones
could happen in agrifoodtech, we offer a few predictionsfor will overtake store shelves as the primary mode for new
2021, starting with the trend for early-stage businesses to product discovery by consumers. The power of traditional
go public via Special Purpose Acquisition Companies brands will diminish as consumers discover and favor
(SPACs) smaller, startup brands.

“
SPACs create both a more dynamic The future of animal agriculture
exit environment and the possibility
Animal Agriculture will increasingly shift towards
of building new high-growth food regenerative practices, carbon neutrality and
companies. This will drive early- premium offerings, as plant-based products become
stage investment, create incentives more price-competitive and mainstream.

for innovation and Dairy will retain a strong footing as farms work
entrepreneurship, and further towards carbon neutrality.
accelerate the demise of the In emerging markets, animal proteins will remain
incumbent food companies. dominant (though consumed in significantly smaller
quantities than developed markets), owing to price
and traditional farming practices.

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 10

 Upstream + Downstream YEAR IN REVIEW

Annual Financings | 2012-2020

Current total
Recorded as of
total asFeb
of 15, 2021
Feb 15, 2020
Projected increase from reporting latency
Projected total

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 11

 Upstream/Downstream YEAR IN REVIEW

Projected Annual Financings | 2012-2020

Downstream $15.8bn

Upstream
$14.3bn

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 12

 Upstream/Downstream YEAR IN REVIEW

Projected Deal Count | 2012-2020

Downstream 1,950

Upstream

1,142

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 13

 Upstream/Downstream YEAR IN REVIEW

Median Deal Size | 2012-2020

Downstream $2.33m
Upstream

$1.65m

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 14

Deals by Category

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM

Image courtesy of 15
Tevel
 WHAT IS AGRIFOODTECH?

AgriFoodTech Category Definitions

Ag Biotechnology Innovative Food
On-farm inputs for crop & animal ag including genetics, Cultured meat, novel ingredients, plant-based
microbiome, breeding, animal health. proteins.

Agribusiness Marketplaces In-Store Retail & Restaurant Tech

Commodities trading platforms, online input Shelf-stacking robots, 3D food printers, POS systems,
procurement, equipment leasing. food waste monitoring IoT.

Bioenergy & Biomaterials Restaurant Marketplaces

Non-food extraction & processing, feedstock Online tech platforms delivering food from a wide
technology, cannabis pharmaceuticals. range of vendors.

Farm Management Software, Sensing & IoT eGrocery

Ag data capturing devices, decision support software, Online stores and marketplaces for sale & delivery of
big data analytics. processed & unprocessed ag products to consumer.

Farm Robotics, Mechanization & Equipment Home & Cooking Tech

On-farm machinery, automation, drone manufacturers, Smart kitchen appliances, nutrition technologies, food
grow equipment. testing devices.

Midstream Technologies Online Restaurants & Mealkits

Food safety & traceability tech, logistics & transport, Startups offering culinary meals and sending pre-
processing tech. portioned ingredients to cook at home.

Novel Farming Systems Cloud Retail Infrastructure

Upstream
Indoor farms, aquaculture, insect & algae production. On-demand enabling tech, ghost
Downstream
kitchens, last-mile delivery robots &
services Both
Miscellaneous eg, fintech for farmers

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 16

 DEALS BY CATEGORY

2020 Deal Volume and Activity by Category

$ 6
,0 0 4 0

338 $5.1B 3 5
0

# Deals
$ 5
,0 0

$5.3B Financing
294
3 0

260
$ 4
,0 0

2 5
0

202
188
$ 3
,0 0

179 2 0

$2.4B
$2.3B
$2.1B 131
120
1 5
0

$ 2
,0 0
$1.9B
$1.6B 99 103
89
72
1 0

66 59
$1.3B $879M
$ 1
,0 0

$1.1B $772M 39
$574M 5 0

$375M
$151M
$380M
$ 0 0

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 17

 DEALS BY CATEGORY
2020 AgriFoodTech Investment
Midstream Technologies

1% eGrocer
2% 2%
3%
Innovative Food
3% 20%

Retail Technology
4%
Restaurant Marketplaces

5% Cloud Retail Infrastructure

Ag Biotechnology

6% Novel Farming Systems

Agribusiness Marketplaces

20% Farm Mgmt SW, Sensing & IoT

7%
Bioenergy & Biomaterials

Online Restaurants & Mealkits

8%
Miscellaneous

9% Farm Robotics, Mechanization & Other

9% Farm Eq
Home & Cooking

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 18

 DEALS BY CATEGORY

Deal Activity and Volume by Category | 2019 vs 2020

⇢ Ag Biotech and Innovative

Food increased
substantially by both deal
count and total dollars
invested between 2019 and
2020.

⇢ Some large deals in the

Midstream category,
especially Lineage Logistic’s
$1.6bn round, pushed totals
up significantly more than
deal activity; however a 30%
increase in number of deals
YoY highlights increasing
innovation in the supply
chain.

⇢ The delta for the Cloud

Retail Infrastructure
category was skewed by a
large $400m deal in 2019
by Travis Kalanick’s
CloudKitchens

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 19

 DEALS BY CATEGORY

Category Deal Activity 2019 vs 2020

In-Store Retail & In-Store Retail &

Restaurant Tech Restaurant Tech
Innovative Innovative
Food Food
423 408 Midstream
226
15.8% 362 13.0% Technologies
8.4%
Midstream 11.5%
eGrocer Technologies eGrocer
369 473
292
13.7% 283 15.1%
10.9%
9.0%

362
300 8.4%
11.2%

1071 1356
39.9%
Farm Mgmt Software, 43.1%
Sensing & IoT

Farm Mgmt
Software, Sensing & IoT

Restaurant Restaurant
Marketplaces Marketplaces

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 20

GROW Impact Fund
Invest in new technologies and innovative
business models to deliver impact and
sustainability to our food system.

Learn more: https://agfunder.com/invest/impact-

fund/

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 21

 Upstream DEALS BY CATEGORY

Top Ag Biotech Deals Top Novel Farming Systems Deals

Gene editing technologies continue to dominate the The insect farming sector had a big year, closing multiple
leaderboard as biologicals face efficacy challenges. Pivot Bio’s growth—stage rounds, while Infarm’s differentiated indoor
fertilizer reducing microbes remain the one to beat. Some farming business model enabled it to close a debt and equity
startups turned their attention towards Covid-19. first close of its Series C.

Benson Hill $150M Infarm $170M

Greenlight Biosciences $102M InnovaF eed $166M
Pivot Bio $100M Plenty Inc. $140M
Tian Huo Yun Ma $76M Ynsect $139M
Metabolon $72M BrightFarms $100M
Anuvia Plant Nutrients $60M Ynsect $65M
Oerth Bio $55M The Kingfish Company $60M
DNA Script $50M Gotham Greens $45M
Inscripta, Inc $50M Gotham Greens $42M
Ascus Biosciences $46M Shenandoah Growers $39M
Provivi $46M Unfold $30M
Mammoth Biosciences $45M AppHarvest $28M
Enko Chem $45M PlantLab $23M
Inari $45M Beewise $22M
evonetix $30M Pure Harvest Smart Farms $21M
Tropic Biosciences $29M Pure Green Farms $20M
Brightseed $27M Iron Ox $20M
Scioto Biosciences $27M Beta Hatch $19M
Aceto $21M Freight Farms $15M
Newleaf Symbiotics $20M OnePointOne $12M

AgFunder portfolio company

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 22

 Upstream DEALS BY CATEGORY

Top Innovative Food Deals

⇢ The top deals in this table were made by Impossible Foods $500M
some of alternative protein’s very first Impossible Foods $200M
movers, and the size of these deals is Memphis Meats $161M
indicative of the maturity of this industry
Perfect Day Foods $160M
today.
The Not Company $85M

⇢ The fact that Impossible Foods was able to Nature’s Fynd $80M
quickly raise $500m at the very start of the ByHeart $70M
pandemic when uncertainty was high Mosa Meat $64M
indicates the strength of investor conviction
v2food $54M
in this category.
Kate Farms $51M

⇢ Sizeable raises by Memphis Meats and Mosa Nature’s Fynd $45M

Meat are inching cultured meats and proteins MycoTechnology $39M

closer to the market. Numerous such Air Protein $32M
companies have recently held high-profile Good Catch $32M
tastings and reported production costs in the
The Meatless Farm $31M
low-double and high-single digits — a major
Alpha Foods $28M
accomplishment in a field reporting per-unit
The Protein Brewery $26M
costs in the hundreds and thousands of
Puris Proteins $25M
dollars just a few years ago.
Emergy Food $25M

Kate Farms $23M

AgFunder portfolio company

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 23

 Upstream DEALS BY CATEGORY

Top Midstream Tech Deals

⇢ While the food supply chain showed Lineage Logistics $1,600M
remarkable resilience during 2020, Samsara Networks Inc $400M
the pandemic had a disastrous impact
Zymergen $300M
at various points in 2020.
Berkshire Grey $263M
⇢ Dangerous infection rates at meat LeafLink $250M
packing plants in the US, gallons of
Apeel Sciences $250M
milk thrown away down drains,
Yonghui Fresh Food $153M
produce left to rot in the fields - these
Line Man $110M
are just some of the scarring images
many will never forget. Quicktron Robotics $100M

Geltor $91M
⇢ Companies focused on increasing
Ginkgo Bioworks $70M
efficiency in the supply chain saw
Outrider $65M
some huge rounds including Lineage
Logistics’ whopping private equity Guoquan Shihui $60M

round for its network of cold storage Parsable $60M

facilities and automated warehouses Lehe Food $56M
around the world.
Dexterity $56M

⇢ Sustainable ingredients suppliers also Benchling $50M

featured like Zymergen, Geltor, Guoquan Shihui $50M

Ginkgo Bioworks and Apeel Sciences. LeafLink $40M

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 24

 Upstream DEALS BY CATEGORY

Top Farm Management SW, Sensing Top Agribusiness Marketplace Deals

It was a challenging year for early-stage startups in this category Agribusiness marketplaces gathered pace during the year as an
as investors flocked to less risky, easier to understand areas of essential means for farmers to access inputs and markets for their
agrifoodtech. Deal activity is projected to drop 10% YoY as a produce. Indigo made progress with its carbon trading market,
result, but dollar investment will be on par with 2019 as but questions remain about its valuation. Farmers Business
established names successfully raised larger growth stage Network also entered the carbon market in 2020.
rounds.
XAG $182M Indigo $360M
ICEYE $87M Farmers Business Network $250M
DroneDeploy $50M Indigo $175M
Aclima $40M Delract $35M
Solinftec $40M Ninjacart $30M
Taranis $30M Frubana $25M
SeeTree $30M Indigo $25M
PredaSAR $25M TaniHub $17M
Phytech $24M Gather Wholesale $12M
Solinftec $20M DeHaat $12M
Arable $20M Bijak $12M
iMerit $20M Tridge $11M
KETOS $18M Silo $9.0M
Myriota $17M GrainChain $8.2M
Aerobotics $17M Animall $6.0M
Telesense $10M Aruna $5.5M
IntTerra $10M Deliveristo $5.5M
Conservis $9.1M E-Farm.com $5.3M
Connecterra $8.8M Procol $4.0M
FarmX $8.8M Soplaya $4.0M

AgFunder portfolio company

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 25

 Downstream DEALS BY CATEGORY

Top eGrocery Deals Top eGrocery Deals ex-China

For all the momentum the pandemic gave to online grocery, US-based Instacart held down the e-Grocer fort for the rest of
funding to the sector would be a blip if it weren’t for Chinese the world closing multiple deals in 2020. India’s 1.3 billion
companies and consumers. In all, China’s eGrocery companies people are increasingly adopting online grocery, through
raked in $2.9 billion in 2020 — 57% of the category total last year, companies like BigBasket. Niche eGrocers, like “ugly produce”
with several companies raising multiple rounds for expansion. sellers Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods, are also on the rise.

Furong Xingsheng $700M Instacart $225M

Yipin Fresh $360M Instacart $200M
MissFresh e-commerce $306M Market Kurly $165M

Dingdong Maicai $300M Freshtohome $121M

Instacart $225M Instacart $100M

Instacart $200M
Misfits Market $85M
Imperfect Produce $72M
Tongcheng Life $200M
Revol Greens $68M
Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui Tan) $196M
GrubMarket Inc $60M
Market Kurly $165M
Bigbasket.com $60M
Freshtohome $121M
Bigbasket.com $52M
Instacart $100M
Mathem $51M
Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui Tan) $88M
Drizly $50M
Misfits Market $85M
Inagora $48M
Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui Tan) $81M Instamart $45M
Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui Tan) $80M Gorillas $44M
Imperfect Produce $72M Dutchie $35M
Revol Greens $68M Eaze $35M
Bigbasket.com $60M Weee! $35M
GrubMarket Inc $60M SPUD (S ustainable Produce… $30M

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 26

 Downstream DEALS BY CATEGORY

Top In-store Retail & Restaurant Tech Top Cloud Retail Tech
Toast was lucky to raise a huge Series F round just before Covid- Investment activity in this category, which enables the at-home
19 hit giving it a valuation of $5bn. While many startups in this dining trend, logically increased with leading deals going to
category are focused on optimizing grocery stores, it was REEF’s neighborhood kitchens and Nuro’s last mile delivery
somewhat surprising to see so much activity in restaurant tech. robots.

Dmall 多点生鲜 $418M REEF Technology $700M

Toast $400M Nuro $500M
Karma Kitchen $316M Rappi $300M
Ordermark $120M Fabric (was CommonSense… $110M
Bianlifeng $100M MunchOn $100M
Viva Wallet $83M Rebel Foods (was F AASOS) $50M
Fetch Rewards $80M Rebel Foods (was F AASOS) $27M
Lunchr $79M Skipcart $21M
Tabit $35M Virtual Kitchen Co. $20M
Bear Robotics, Inc. $32M Halan $15M
Seated $30M Zuul $9M
BentoBox $29M Homesome $7M
Green Bits $23M Rebel Foods (was F AASOS) $5M
Legion Technologies $22M Nabis $5M
Harri $22M iKcon $5M
Ritual $22M ONO $4M
Lunchbox Technologies $20M CASHDROP $3M
Dishcraft Robotics $20M Food-X Technologies $3M
Wurk $19M ZITICITY $2M
Popmenu, LLC $17M GrocerKey $2M

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 27

Deals by Stage

Image courtesy of Atomo

 Upstream & Downstream DEALS BY STAGE

Projected Deal $ Volume by Stage | 2012 - 2020

⇢ Growth stage deals (Series B and C)
Late
are expected to total more than $10bn
Growth
as more data comes to light. That
Early
represents a 50% increase YoY.
Debt
⇢ Investors doubled-down on existing
portfolios, and generalist investors
joined rounds for agrifoodtech’s
maturing companies.

⇢ Early-stage growth was muted – 9% on

projected totals YoY – which could be
due to Covid-19 creating some risk
aversion among investors.

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 29

 Upstream & Downstream DEALS BY STAGE

Deal Average and Median by Stage

⇢ Median and average deal sizes differ for
Median
upstream and downstream ventures.
Average

⇢ At the seed and Series A stages, the two

trend closely together in both upstream
and downstream categories.
$94M
$ 1
0 0

⇢ In later stages, the disparities widen, as

$93M
$ 9
0

downstream ventures tend to take in

bigger funding rounds; there tend to be $83M
$ 8
0

$ 7
0
more outliers. Thus, downstream rounds
pull averages up, while upstream rounds
reign in the medians.
$ 6
0

$ 5
0

$49M
$ 4
0

$ 3
0
$27M $38M

$15M
$ 2
0

$10M
$1.3M $6.0M $15M
$ 1
0

$0.5M $14M
$ 0

$1.1M
Seed A B C D Late Debt

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 30

 Upstream & Downstream DEALS BY STAGE

Median Round Size by Stage - 2012-2020

Late

Growth

Early

Debt

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 31

 DEALS BY STAGE

Top 15 Seed Deals Top 15 Series A Deals

Chinese biotech company Tian Huo Yun Ma raised an In contrast to the top seed stage deals, downstream
exceptionally large seed round. The range of technologies at the technologies dominated the top Series A deal list. UK-based
seed stage include remote sensing (PredaSAR), alt-proteins Karma Kitchen, which provides kitchen spaces to businesses,
(Climax Foods), eGrocery (Justo), and farm robotics (RootAI). inked $316m in July as it became clear that indoor dining would
not likely rebound soon. Germany’s Gorillas raised $44m to
expand on-demand grocery delivery .

Tian Huo Yun Ma $76M Karma Kitchen $316M

PredaSAR $25M Yonghui Fresh Food $153M

Quadtalent $20M ByHeart $70M

OnePointOne $12M The Kingfish Company $60M

Jüsto $12M Dexterity $56M

GudangAda $11M Gorillas $44M

IMAGR $9.5M EcoGen Laboratories $40M

Atomo Coffee $9.0M Jahez $37M

Shef $8.8M Delract $35M

Nomagic $8.6M Chowbus $33M

Cervest $8.0M Bear Robotics, Inc. $32M

Climax Foods $7.5M The Meatless Farm $31M

Crave Delivery $7.3M Seated $30M

RGAND LLC $7.3M Unfold $30M Upstream

Root AI $7.2M Point Pickup $30M Downstream

AgFunder portfolio company

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 32

 DEALS BY STAGE

Top 15 Series B Deals Top 15 Series C Deals

Robotics and automation venture Berkshire Grey raised its first The Series C chart tells a story of demand for hyper-local and
round since in 2013. Kopi Kenangan is boosting Indoneisa’s fresh foods — both upstream and downstream — from vertical
domestic coffee consumption in a market known for exports. farming in Germany (Infarm), to fresh but discounted grocery
Cultured meat companies Memphis Meats and Mosa Meat delivery in China (Yipin Fresh) and fresh meats in India
signal they’re edging towards commercialization. (Freshtohome).

Berkshire Grey $263M Furong Xingsheng $800M

Kopi Kenangan $209M Nuro $500M

InnovaF eed $166M Dmall 多点生鲜 $418M

Memphis Meats $161M Yipin Fresh $360M

Yonghui Fresh Food $153M Tongcheng Life $200M

RWDC Industries $133M Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui Tan) $196M

Fabric (was… $110M Infarm $170M

Bianlifeng $100M Perfect Day Foods $160M

Geltor $91M Freshtohome $121M

Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui Tan) $88M Ordermark $120M

Misfits Market $85M Pivot Bio $100M

Nature’s Fynd $80M Quicktron Robotics $100M

Manus Biosynthesis $75M ICEYE $87M

Upstream
Outrider $65M The Not Company $85M
Downstream
Mosa Meat $55M Viva Wallet $83M

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 33

 DEALS BY STAGE

Top Late Deals

⇢ Many of the top late stage deals are Lineage Logistics $1.6B
household names by now including Furong Xingsheng $700M
Impossible Foods and Instacart, both of REEF Technology $700M
which raised two rounds during the year
Zomato $660M
to shore up capital to face the
Impossible Foods $500M
pandemic,
Samsara Networks Inc $400M

⇢ The top three companies are all focused DoorDash $400M

on improving efficiencies in the supply Toast $400M
chain and for the retailer; Lineage Indigo $360M
Logistics’s cold chain management,
MissFresh e-commerce $306M
Furong Xingsheng’s logistics for
Zymergen $300M
community supermarkets, and REEF’s
Rappi $300M
parking lots-turned-ghost kitchens
enabling restaurants to serve more Dingdong Maicai $300M

consumers. Farmers Business Network $250M

Apeel Sciences $250M

⇢ While this chart has traditionally been
Instacart $225M
dominated by downstream companies,
Impossible Foods $200M
it’s exciting to see how upstream
Instacart $200M
ventures have matured and are Upstream
increasingly able to command large XAG $182M
Downstream
valuations. Indigo $175M

AgFunder portfolio company

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 34

 How the food system is being reimagined
There is no escaping Covid-19’s impact on the end-to-end food These tensions — driven by changing consumer behaviors and a
ecosystem, highlighting how essential but fragile it is. Underscored desire to be planet friendly and intrinsically connected — are the
by a set of megatrends and the acceleration of these trends that tipping point in a shift from scale and silos to a personalized and
the pandemic brought with it, tremendous change is taking place linked ecosystem. At the intersection of these paradoxes are
across the food system. Fundamentally, it’s being reimagined. But possible solutions that can help food companies identify growth
what does that mean? As we consider how forces outside the opportunities to thrive today and create long-term value for the
industry propel a reimagined food system, companies are faced future. What is uncovered at those intersections tells a story — what’s
with unique paradoxes. yours?
Megatrends

Technology and Consumer Infrastructure

Environmental
innovation demographics and trade

• Connected system • Consumer centric • Planet friendly •

© 2021 Ernst & Young LLP. All Rights Reserved. US SCORE no. 11901-211US | 2102-3701934
Personalization Big food Fix Less carbon

Scale small food Feed More protein

Trends towards personalization “Big food” is perceived as less Health care R&D is almost Consumers demand higher-quality
where scale in production remains wholesome and more ethically 10x higher than consumer protein from fewer resources.
the underlying infrastructure. suspect than “small food.” products R&D.

The level of investment Almost half of all global Nearly two-thirds of Half of US consumers
in innovative food more consumers say locally global consumers will identify “sustainability”
137% than doubled from 2019 46% sourced is a more 62% make healthier choices 50% with climate change
to 2020.1 important priority now in what they buy.3 mitigation and adaption.4
than it was in the past.2

1 AgFunder AgriFood Tech 2020 report | 2 EY-Parthenon Sustainability survey (December 2020) | 3 EY Future Consumer Index, global (October 2020) | 4 EY Future Consumer Index, global (October 2020)
 Deals by Country

Image courtesy of FYTO

 DEALS BY GEOGRAPHY

Global Investment World Map

# Deals

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 37

 DEALS BY GEOGRAPHY

Global Deal Activity by Region

Americas

Asia

Europe

Africa

Oceana

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 38

 INVESTMENT BY GEOGRAPHY

Global Investment by Region

Americas

Asia

Europe

Africa

Oceana

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 39

 DEALS BY COUNTRY

Top 20 Countries by Investment

#Deals
⇢ US companies recovered investment United States $13.2B 815
market share in 2020 bucking the trend of
the last few years when other geographies China $4.8B 115
accelerated investment in their developing India $1.8B 164
agrifoodtech ecosystems. This could be a
slight flight to safety in the wake of the United Kingdom $1.1B 133
pandemic, as well as investors doubling France $660M 39
down on previous bets in their portfolios.
Israel $482M 57
⇢ Chinese deal activity declined but there
Canada $407M 130
were some huge deals for downstream
services particularly eGrocery. Colombia $359M 12

⇢ Colombia reached the top 15 with Indonesia $339M 30

relatively few deals after Rappi, its unicorn Germany $307M 38
last mile delivery platform, raised $300m in
last stage funding. Netherlands $249M 27

⇢ The UK continues to lead the European Finland $225M 11

region despite Brexit-related uncertainty. Japan $208M 62

Ireland $196M 18

Singapore $195M 41

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 40

 DEALS BY COUNTRY

Top US Deals Top Non-US Deals

The top deals in the US tell a story of how investors were thinking Internationally, top deals were dominated by food delivery and
of food supply chains in 2020. Automation plays a big part. e-commerce. The top five deals are all e-Grocery, and mostly
Lineage Logistics and Nuro automate warehousing, the cold Chinese companies. Pause for kitchen space manager Karma
chain and delivery. So does sustainability, with alt-protein Kitchen, then it’s delivery again. Infarm and InnovaFeed put
players, and Indigo Ag and Apeel all tackling it in various ways. novel farming on the list.

Lineage Logistics $1.6B Furong Xingsheng $700M

REEF Technology $700M
Zomato $660M
Nuro $500M
Dmall 多点生鲜 $418M
Impossible Foods $500M
Yipin Fresh $360M
Toast $400M
Karma Kitchen $316M
Samsara Networks Inc $400M
DoorDash MissFresh e-commerce $306M
$400M
Indigo $360M Dingdong Maicai $300M

Zymergen $300M Rappi $300M

Berkshire Grey $263M Kopi Kenangan $209M
Apeel Sciences $250M Tongcheng Life $200M
LeafLink $250M Nice Tuan (also Shi Hui… $196M
Farmers Business Network $250M XAG $182M
Instacart $225M Infarm $170M
Instacart $200M
InnovaF eed $166M
Impossible Foods $200M
Zomato $166M
Indigo $175M
Market Kurly $165M
Memphis Meats $161M
Perfect Day Foods $160M
Benson Hill Biosystems $150M
Plenty Inc. $140M
Yonghui Fresh Food $153M

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 41

 DEALS BY GEOGRAPHY

U.S. Investments: Number of Deals By State Map

815

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 42

 DEALS BY GEOGRAPHY

U.S. Investments : Value of Investments by State

⇢ Silicon Valley plus an agricultural center of the US
makes California’s dominance in agrifoodtech investing
no surprise. A question mark remains whether Silicon
Valley will remain the destination for investors and
entrepreneurs alike as Covid-19 threw the world into $5.6B

remote working and many considered cheaper living.

⇢ Boston’s thriving tech startup scene—particularly in

bioengineering, hard tech (robotics) and deep tech
(AI)—put Massachusetts in a trailing second place.

⇢ So what about Michigan? Lineage Logistics is based

in Novi, near Detroit, and raised $1.6bn.

⇢ Miami-based REEF Technology, which raised $700m,

similarly placed Florida high in the ranking.
$1.9B
⇢ Colorado’s agrifood tech ecosystem is small but
$1.6B
growing and highly diversified.

$961M
$819M

$358M
$243M $294M
$44M $47M $48M $70M $79M $92M $103M $113M $123M $125M $131M $148M

MN KY OR IA GA WI CT PA TX VA NJ WA NC CO IL FL NY MI MA CA

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 43

Investor Activity

Image Courtesy of Lavva

 INVESTOR ACTIVITY

Most Active Accelerator Funds

RANK INVESTOR LOCATION # INVESTMENTS

1 YCombinator Mountain View, CA 45*

2 SOSV Princeton, NJ 40*

3 TechStars Global 36*

4 500 Startups San Francisco, CA 16*

5 Plug & Play Ventures Global 15

6 SVG Partners/THRIVE Los Gatos, CA 13

7 Sparklabs Cultiv8 Sydney, Australia 12

Big Idea Ventures Singapore, New York, US

8 10
Alchemist Accelerator ???

9 The Yield Lab St Louis, MO, Rosario, Argentina 8

10 VentureCatalysts Maharashtra, India 9

10 GROW Impact Accelerator Singapore 9

Trendlines Tel Aviv, Israel

12 8
Rockstart Amsterdam, Netherlands
*includes investments made by multiple accelerators and/or follow-on funds

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 45

 INVESTOR ACTIVITY

Most Active Venture Capital Fund Managers*

RANK INVESTOR LOCATION # INVESTMENTS

1 S2G Ventures Chicago, IL 37

2 AgFunder San Francisco, CA 21

3 Unovis (New Crop Capital) New York, NY 19

4 Temasek Singapore 17

5 Crowdcube London, UK 15

6 Innova Memphis Memphis, Tennessee 14

7 Astanor Ventures Brussels, Belgium 11

Alexandria Venture Investments Durham, NC
CPT Capital London, UK
8 Blue Horizon Ventures Zurich, Switzerland 10
GGV Capital Menlo Park, CA
Stray Dog Capital Leawood, KS

Prelude Ventures San Francisco, CA

Omnivore Mumbai IN
9 9
Sequoia Capital China Beijing, China
Finistere Ventures San Diego, CA

10 Horizons Ventures Hong Kong, China 8

Shenzhen, China
Tencent Holdings New York, NY
Ospraie Ag Sciences
11 New York, NY 7
Tiger Global Management
Global Founders Capital Berlin, Germany *by number of companies invested in, including follow-ons

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 46

M&A

Image Courtesy of Verdant Robotics

 FARMTECH EXITS

Food Tech M&A Insights from

While exit expectations waned at the beginning of last year as $459 million. Globally, we saw Deliveroo IPO in the UK and the
the pandemic began, several large FoodTech companies held Woowa Brother sell to Delivery Hero for $4.6 billion in South
sizable exit events. Generally speaking, acquisition and public Korea. Beyond these digital food delivery platforms, there were
market activity were centered around digital platforms for food other select large exits, including Rockstar Energy’s sale to
delivery, including restaurant marketplaces, meal kits, and Pepsico for $3.85 billion and Utz Quality Foods’ sale to Collier
online grocery. While several deals transacted in Innovative Creek Holdings for $1.56 billion.
Foods, which includes novel ingredient and alternative food
In the years to come, we expect to see a compositional shift in
products, and other general food product companies, these
subsector exits to include a higher percentage of Innovative
deals tended to be relatively small. In many subsectors there
Food companies, Midstream Technologies, and better-for-you
was more capital raising activity than exits.
brands. This is caused from a confluence of contributing factors,
Last year ended on a high note with DoorDash’s landmark IPO. with one factor being the amount of cash food manufacturers
On opening day, DoorDash’s IPO priced at $102, and rose 86% have on hand after 2020. Food manufacturers had a successful
to close at $189.51. While the stock has seen highs and lows, its year with consumers shifting to at-home eating, and when
stock price continues to grow and shows a glimpse of pent-up coupled with murmurs of divestitures of legacy brands, may lead
demand from public market investors that desire greater to a highly acquisitive 2021 and 2022. With that said, we’ve
FoodTech exposure. observed delineation in valuation rationale, while some continue
to acquire for the promise of future growth, others are
We also saw further global consolidation of Restaurant
increasingly focused on acquiring profitable companies. We
Marketplaces and food delivery. In early 2020, Just Eat acquired
expect we’ll see a bit of both this year.
Takeaway for $8.3 billion and then the combined entity, named
Just Eat Takeaway, acquired Grubhub for $7.3 billion in June.
Uber continues to build its food business through the
acquisitions of Postmates for $2.65 billion and Cornershop for

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 48

 FARMTECH EXITS

Select FoodTech Exits | 2020*

Target Target country Acquirer Technology Est. Price ($m) Select Investors

Takeaway United Kingdom Just Eat Restaurant Marketplace $8,248.24

Frisco.Pl Poland Eurocash Group eGrocery $79.82

Freshly USA Nestle Online Restaurants and Meal Kits $1,500.00 Allied Investors Group, Highland Capital
Grubhub USA Just Eat Takeaway Restaurant Marketplace $7,300.00
Fairlife USA Coca-Cola Dairy Products $562.92 Coca-Cola, Select Milk Producers

Cornershop USA Uber eGrocery $459.00 Accel, Endeavor Catalyst, Creandum

Demae-can Japan Naver Restaurant Marketplace $458.23

Woowa Brothers South Korea Delivery Hero Restaurant Marketplace $4,597.70 Goldman Sachs, GIC, Sequoia, Stonebridge
InstaShop (Specialty Retail) United Arab Emirates Delivery Hero eGrocery $360.00 Jabbar Internet Group, Souq, VentureFriends
Benchmark, Khosla, Kleiner Perkins, Temasek,
DoorDash USA IPO Restaurant Marketplace $32,400.97
Coatue, Y Combinator, T. Rowe Price
Rockstar Energy USA PepsiCo Energy Drink Manufacturer $3,850.00
Factor_ USA HelloFresh Online Restaurants and Meal Kits $277.00 Hyde Park Angels, Valor Equity Partners
Postmates USA Uber Restaurant Marketplace $2,650.00 FirstMark, Founders Fund, Tiger Global

Deliveroo United Kingdom IPO Restaurant Marketplace $2,532.98

Vitalic Health India Reliance Retail Ventures Innovative Food $137.70

Retty Japan IPO Restaurant Tech $121.20 Eight Roads, NTT Docomo, Mitsubishi UFJ

Buitoni Food USA Brynwood Partners Food Products $115.00 Nestle

Keruyun China Alibaba Group In-Store Retail & Restaurant Tech $114.63 Baidu, CISC, CITIC Securities, Tianxing Capital

Utz Quality Foods USA Collier Creek Holdings Food Products $1,560.00
*data from Pitchbook

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 49

 FARM TECH EXITS

Crop Tech M&A Insights from

Despite the interruption of Covid-19 and resulting slowing ⇢ Consolidation among biologicals companies increased in
adoption of agtech, it was one of the strongest years on 2020 and we expect that to continue particularly for
record for M&A. We tracked 37 completed deals in 2020, companies with proprietary formulations and proven
comprised of agronomic data and analytics, farm traction. Driven by consumer and policymaker
operations and profitability management, irrigation control, sustainability demands; improving product efficacy; and
and biologicals. US-based acquisitions represented over increasing crop tolerance to conventional alternatives,
50% of deals, similar to 2019, followed by Europe (19%), biologicals are increasingly popular with farmers.
and Asia-Pacific (11%).

A few other trends to look out for in 2021:

2021 predictions
⇢ Deal activity between tech providers in the same ⇢ Consolidation in 2021 will be driven by resource
category grew such as irrigation tech driven by Valmont efficiency tech and profitability optimization.
and CropX. Precision water monitoring and control
brings measurable cost savings to growers while ⇢ Carbon platforms and digital measurement,
lessening management time and resource usage, a monitoring, and marketplaces to support this sector,
combination that will lead to more strategic acquisitions, are more efficiently acquired than built.
especially by strategics and retail distribution
⇢ Stronger interest from private equity buyers and
participants.
continued consolidation by ag retail.
⇢ Non agrifood companies are coming into the fold such
⇢ Data collection, analytics, and management players
as Telus, a Canadian telecommunications company that’s
will continue consolidating niche products and
purchasing several agtech companies for a new business
services into complete, robust solutions through a
unit. Verdant received significant inbound M&A interest
single user interface.
from non agrifood groups in 2020.

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 50

 FARMTECH EXITS

Farm Tech M&A and Exits | 2020

Target Target country Acquirer Technology Est. Price Select exit investors/owners

Rivulis Israel Temasek Irrigation Tech $365m

Growers Holdings USA Israel Chemicals (ICL) Farm Management SW $60m

Foundation Capital, Chrysalix VC,
AgSense (49%) USA Valmont Irrigation Tech $42m
Chilton Investments
ClearAg USA DTN Data & Analytics $12m
Verdant BioSciences (52%) Singapore Ackermans & van Haaren Biotechnology & Biologicals $8.6m
Trellis USA Akerna Novel Farming Systems $2m
151 Research Canada AGCO Sensing & IoT venBio Partners, Arrowmark Partners
Affinity Management Ltd.
Canada Ag Growth International Farm Management SW
(Compass)
Agbridge USA Nutrien Ltd. Sensing & IoT
AGI AgIntegrated USA TELUS Data & Analytics
MPM Capital, Avalon Ventures, Kansas
Agrian USA TELUS Farm Management SW
Bioscience Authority
Agrilution Germany Miele Novel Farming Systems
Agrinos USA AMVAC Biotechnology & Biologicals
Cibus (Canola) Canada FBN Biotechnology & Biologicals
Crop Boss Canada Provision Analytics Farm Management SW

CropMetrics USA CropX Irrigation Tech

enEvolv, Inc. USA Zymergen Biotechnology & Biologicals

Farmsave Australia FBN Ag Marketplace

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 51

 FARMTECH EXITS

Farm Tech M&A and Exits | 2020

Target Target country Acquirer Technology Select exit investors/owners

Geocom Brazil Koppert Biological Systems Precision & Equipment Farm Journal

Greenbook USA AgWorld Data & Analytics

Grupo Agrotecnologia Spain Rovensa Biotechnology & Biologicals

Haplotech Canada FBN Biotechnology & Biologicals

Harvest Profit USA Deere and Company Farm Management SW

HydroGro USA The McGregor Company Advanced Breeding

Net Irrigate LLC USA Lindsay Irrigation Tech

Pathway BioLogic USA Plant Response Biotechnology & Biologicals Robert Bosch GmbH

Plantect Japan Bayer CropScience K.K. Novel Farming Systems

PrecisionKing USA Valmont Irrigation Tech

Probe Schedule USA Wilbur-Ellis Company Irrigation Tech Pacific Channel

The Yield Lab, BioGenerator,
Regen New Zealand CropX Irrigation Tech
Allen Angel Capital
RNAgri Inc. USA RNAissance Ag LLC (TechAccel LLC) Biotechnology & Biologicals

Salesbee Switzerland Plantix (PEAT GmbH) Ag Marketplace Metalmark Capital

Valagro Italy Syngenta Group Biotechnology & Biologicals Latitude GPS

Visio-Green Agriculture France Sencrop Sensing & IoT

Westbridge Agricultural Products USA Erber Group Biotechnology & Biologicals e-Novia & Valagro
Green Towers GmbH,
Yaxe Italy e-Novia & Valagro (JV) Farm Management SW
Ergas Ventures LLC.

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 52

Sources & Methodology

Image courtesy of Lavva

 WHAT IS AGRIFOODTECH?

What is AgriFoodTech?
Agrifoodtech is the small but growing segment of the startup food safety and traceability, farm efficiency and profitability, and
and venture capital universe that’s aiming to improve or disrupt unsustainable meat production.
the global food and agriculture industry.
There are many ways to categorize agrifoodtech startups
As with all industries, technology plays a key role in the highlighting the complexity of the industry. See page 16 for
operation of the agrifood sector – a $7.8 trillion industry, more information on our categorization system, which we
responsible for feeding the planet and employing well over 40% developed in consultation with venture capitalists,
of the global population. The pace of innovation has not kept up entrepreneurs, and other industry experts.
with other industries and today agriculture remains the least
digitized of all major industries, according to McKinsey.

The industrial agrifood sector is also less efficient than other

industries, with an increasing number of demands and
constraints being placed on it. These pressures include a
growing global population; climate change and global warming;
environmental degradation; changing consumer demands;
limited natural resources; food waste; consumer health issues;
and chronic disease.

The need for agrifoodtech innovation is greater than ever. This

creates many opportunities for entrepreneurs and technologists
to disrupt the industry and create new efficiencies at various
points in the value chain.

Broadly speaking, agrifoodtech startups are aiming to solve the

following challenges: food waste, CO2 emissions, chemical
residues and run-off, drought, labor shortages, health and sugar
consumption, opaque supply chains, distribution inefficiencies,

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 54

 SOURCES

Sources & Methodology

Data Sources & Curation how they will appear 12 months in the future. The adjustments
Utilizing new advanced machine-learning algorithms and artificial (roughly +17% for overall dollar volumes and +45% for deal
intelligence to help identify and categorize agrifoodtech startups, counts, with more granular adjustments by stage where
our knowledge base has grown to over 29,939 companies, with appropriate) are modelled based on trends in historical data
new startups and historical data being added each day. dating back to 2017.

The raw data for our reports comes from Crunchbase, which While we are happy to share our findings, we reserve all rights with
gathers publicly-available information such as press releases and respect to AgFunder research and this report and we require it to
US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, as well as be fully and accurately cited when any of the data, charts, or
crowdsourcing directly from the industry. AgFunder contributes commentary are used.
data from its own collection methods, including private
communications with investors and companies. We also collect Undisclosed Financings
data from partners across the globe (see page 57 below) to ensure Of the 2240 financings in this report’s curated dataset, 660 were
we have the most comprehensive, accurate and curated dataset undisclosed and could not be determined through research or
and knowledge base of agrifoodtech companies and direct sources. We exclude undisclosed financings when
investments. computing averages and median values. In some cases, we’re able
to confidentially obtain financing figures directly from investors on
The raw data are painstakingly curated by the AgFunder team to the condition they’re only included in aggregate.
ensure they are relevant, accurate, up-to-date, and categorized
according to AgFunder’s proprietary tagging system. Multiple Financings
We update and improve our dataset continuously throughout the In some cases, Crunchbase displays multiple financings for the
year, meaning total figures from previous years’ reports will shift as same company in the same year. This can be because a company
our dataset becomes more complete. To provide numbers that can closes subsequent rounds in the same year, but it can also be the
be fairly compared to the previous year, estimates for total deal result of several closes of the same round. We keep them separate
volumes and amounts for this year are adjusted using a model of unless they are announced as one single round.

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 55

 SOURCES

Sources & Methodology

Categorization We’ve also taken taken a stricter stance on cannabis and CBD-
related startups; there needs to be clear proprietary technology
AgFunder’s categorization system is designed to capture broad
involved. We will not include pure consumer packaged goods or
themes across the complex agrifoodtech value chain (see page 16
pure production, as we wouldn’t include pure production in any
for a list of categories). The agrifood sector has a wide supply chain
other crop. If we believe the growing facilities are particularly high
spanning inputs and industrials, farming, logistics, wholesale
tech or utilize proprietary technology, we will still include it in our
distribution, processing, retail distribution, and the consumer. In
Novel Farming Systems category. The same goes for processed
many cases, technologies such as marketplaces connect different
products; if the extraction technique is particularly innovative, we’ll
links in the supply chain and so in this report we’ve chosen to focus
include it as a Biomaterials or Midstream Tech startup. Large
on high-level themes. To assist with the categorization and to avoid
vertically-integrated cannabis companies are also excluded.
subjectivity, AgFunder first employs over 150 machine learning
and artificial intelligence models to suggest category placement
and to help tag the company according to the technology and its
Special Acknowledgement
place in the supply chain. Finally, the AgFunder team manually Special thanks to Tim Li, Ellen Ehrsam, and the rest of the
reviews the suggestions for each company, often with significant Crunchbase team for their support and assistance.
research and debate among our team.

In 2019, we added a new category, Cloud Retail Infrastructure, to

relieve the Midstream Tech category of ‘later-stream’ deals we felt
no longer fit. Cloud Retail Infrastructure includes the growing
number of technologies enabling companies to provide customers
with on-demand, at-home dining such as ghost kitchens and last-
mile delivery services including delivery robots.

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 56

 SOURCES

Our International Data Partners

In addition to our partnership with Crunchbase, we’ve partnered with several groups from around the world to help us collect more
international data at the local level to ensure we can present the most comprehensive data set in the industry. Our partners for the
2020 report include Start-up Nation Central in Israel, SP Ventures in Brazil, Glocal in Argentina, Bits x Bites in China, ShakeUp
Factory in Europe, and Omnivore in India. Thanks also to Sofia Ramirez for her Latin America contributions.

Europe

Israel

China

South America India

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 57

Are we missing your data?
Don’t forget to send it to us!

Data@AgFunder.com
or add direct onto
Crunchbase.com

2021 AGRIFOODTECH INVESTMENT REPORT | AGFUNDER.COM 58

Image courtesy of Phylagen