The agritech VC ecosystem shows resilience, despite the recent decline. With 150K companies backed by more than 52,000 patents and nearly 5,000 grants, the sector thrives for R&D and innovation. It draws interest from a wide range of more than 10K agtech investors, leading to over 36K funding activities.
Having guided hundreds of startups to their ideal investors, we know how to enter the sector. We’ve created a verified list of top 10 agriculture VC firms and their contacts; with many of them we worked directly. We also touch on deals and IPOs info, sector-specific angel investors, dedicated startups accelerators, top agriculture exhibits and summits, and more. Ready to break into the agriculture venture scene? Don’t forget to adopt an effective investor outreach strategy first.
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The agtech industry is known for its collaborative spirit. Over half of the top 100 food companies have launched accelerator programs to scale cutting-edge agritech solutions. Some notable examples are IBM’s partnership with Yara to develop AI-powered weather prediction for farms or Bayer’s team-up with Ynsect to explore insect protein for animal feed.
Agritech industry dominates in China, the USA, and India. For decades, China reigns supreme in rice, wheat, and vegetables, India — producing milk, pulses, and spices, while the US leads in corn and soybeans.
Governments worldwide heavily support agritech through subsidies and policies. Thus, the American Farm Bill and the European Common Agricultural Policy support farmers with conservation grants and crop insurance, making high-tech, sustainable agriculture more accessible.
Precision agriculture is taking centre stage for VC attention, as evidenced by the successful funding rounds of companies like Grow Intelligence and FarmLogs.
Overall, agtech businesses confront climate and ethical challenges with drought-resistant crops, food supply chain transparency, enhanced food safety, reduced waste, weather prediction analytics, and efficient water management systems—a fundamental appeal for green agtech VCs.
Usually, agritech VC funds mature businesses with an average investment of $13.4M. For example, CropX raised $20 million to expand its innovative soil tech, while Pure Harvest Smart Farms secured $180 million to improve its greenhouses. Even though agtech has longer maturation timelines and tech development is slow, there is significant room for early-stage innovation, especially in sustainable practices and food systems.
Most active VC funds in agriculture
More than 80 venture capital funds are investing in agriculture. One of the leading firms is S2G Ventures, backed by the Walton family, which invests in sustainable food production, aquaculture, and clean energy. With 43 diversity investments among 158, it has 14 successful IPOs. The other one is AgFunder, known for its investments in precision agriculture, with drones, sensors, and machine learning to optimize crop yields and reduce waste. Another notable VC fund is Anterra Capital, which strongly focuses on food safety, security, and sustainability.
Angel investors in agriculture
With 50 angel investors in the USA alone, many of them are successful farmers or have experience in related fields like agricultural machinery or food science. Some prominent angel investors in agriculture include:
Kimbal Musk co-founded Big Green, a non-profit that builds school gardens.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invests in sustainable agriculture companies through his foundation.
Marc Andreessen backs companies across various sectors, including some in agriculture, through his firm, Andreessen Horowitz.
Startup agtech accelerators
There is a large network of agtech incubator and accelerator programs. One of the leading is THRIVE by SVG Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based innovation and investment platform in the agri-food sector. The program lasts about four months and supports startups at various stages, from seed to growth. AgLaunch offers a farmer-focused 3-month program for agtech startups, including field trials, mentorship, and a network for testing new technologies. The Yield Lab champions early-stage agrifoodtechs across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Typically, it lasts nine months to a year and supports global agtech startups with funding, mentorship, and networking for innovation in sustainable agrifood systems.
Recent venture capital exits in agriculture
Even though agtech funding overall went down, there were some significant investments in the last quarter. Farmers Business Network, an e-commerce service, received a big boost of $154.9M to help its marketplace and farm management software grow.
At the same time, nevertheless, high initial costs, increasing energy prices, and less interest from investors—Bowery, an indoor farm operator—secured the second-biggest investment of the quarter, raising $93.8M in Series D funding.
Top agtech startups
With over 6K agritech startups, there are three pioneering. Beyond Meat, which produces plant-based meat alternatives, has over $100M in AUM. Another one is Plenty, a leading indoor vertical farming company that has secured over $400M in funding. Finally, Indigo Agriculture’s project focused on improving plant health through microbiology, with $650M raised.
Next steps
Despite some recent venture capital pullbacks, agtech remains an attractive sector. The growing population increases the demand for food, which increases the surge for automation and tech disruption. Startups that will incorporate drones, AI, ML, and VR/AR advancements may catapult traditional agriculture to the tech agro evolution.
So, what does this mean for you? If you’re looking to raise in the near future, start preparing now. Make sure you have a solid business plan and a pitch deck that tells your product’s story in an investor-attractive way.
In 2023 alone, Waveup’s clients raised over $505M, and we’ll gladly help you follow their suit. If you need help, contact our team for expert guidance!
FAQs
What is AgTech?
Agtech, short for agricultural technology, refers to the use of technology in agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture. It includes precision farming, farm management software, robotic and drone technology, and genetic modification, all of which are focused on improving yield, efficiency, and profitability.
What are the biggest Agritech expo or AgTech conferences?
Agritechnica, the world’s top agricultural machinery fair, brings together hundreds of thousands for exhibits on everything from crop management to sustainable farming trends.
Held every other year in Bologna, Italy, EIMA International showcases global exhibitors’ latest agricultural and gardening machinery, spanning tractors, harvesters, renewables, and more.
World Ag Expo is one of the world’s largest agritech expo, with seminars and workshops, attracting over 100,000 visitors and over 1,400 exhibitors across 2.6 million square feet of space.