An Agri-Food Green Transition - 2024 Scorecard!
Chart of the Week: Lead Investors Are Driving An Agri-Food Transition
At New Food Finance, our mission is to define and drive a green transition in food and ag, by highlighting the growth opportunity.
To achieve this, we have created the world’s first green transition “taxonomy”, by filtering tens of thousands of foodtech and agtech companies, according to whether they cut the environmental impact of food production.
From the bottom up, we have built out sectors, sub-sectors, markets, according to emerging companies and technologies.
Here are some of our biggest learnings, from 2024!
First, no other data or intelligence provider is doing what we’re doing, namely revealing a green transition across food and ag. As a result, there is much work to do! In 2025, our mission is to overcome data gaps, in particular in financing valuations, and product prices and data, building on our recently launched, monthly market reports. To date, we have 10 strategic partners, and we aim to grow this number!
Second, many investors do get this transition, investing across the full spectrum of green transition technologies and sectors (See our Chart of the Week, above).
Third, the world’s 10 biggest agrichemical companies (*) are all active investors in startups on our platform. Between them, last year, they participated in fundraisings worth $367 million, in this space. While this funding excludes internal, corporate investment, it is still too small, relative to collective sales worth $228 billion (yes, nearly a quarter of a trillion!). They can do more, to demonstrate leadership, and reduce their exposure to environmental regulation!
Fourth, we see a fundraising recovery emerging, following the post-Covid peak in 2021, led by core sectors including crop breeding, carbon and biodiversity measurement, robotics, alternative fats/ chocolate/ coffee, and regen ag.
Fifth, this transition needs advocates, supporting technology leaders and progress. The Good Food Institute does incredible work for vegan alternative protein innovation. Sustainable agtech needs the same, and an agri-food green transition in general, mirroring the endless trade bodies, foundations and think-tanks advocating for renewables, for a green transition in the energy sector!
* We estimate that these companies are: Yara, Bayer, BASF, Syngenta, UPL, Corteva, FMC, ADAMA, Sumitomo Chemical and NuFarm.
Once again, we wish everyone a restful break, and a successful start to 2025!
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“Green Transition” Deals of the Week
In our “Green Transition” space last week, we saw fundraising worth $67 million.
United States, December 6 – AGEYE Technologies uses computer vision, deep learning, and IoT devices to create next-generation autonomous indoor farms. The company recently received undisclosed private equity funding from MANN+HUMMEL.
Chile, December 6 – Luyef Biotechnologies, a B2B cellular agriculture startup, is developing sustainable and affordable alternatives to conventional meat. The company raised $1.25 million in grants from the Good Food Institute and CORFO.
Germany, December 6 – Planet A Foods has created a cocoa substitute using fermented oats, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional cocoa. The company raised $30 million in venture capital from Cherry Ventures, World Fund, Bayern Kapital, Zintinus, and Burda Principal Investments.
France, December 5 – darwin offers biodiversity measurement services, covering data collection, target setting, and reporting, to support nature-positive strategies. Darwin raised $1.59 million in pre-venture capital from Asterion Ventures.
Israel, December 5 – Celleste Bio produces cocoa ingredients through cell culture, using natural cocoa cells without genetic modification to create a sustainable alternative. The company secured $4.5 million in pre-venture capital funding from SnackFutures Ventures, Supply Change Capital, Consensus Business Group, Trendlines, and Barrel Ventures.
Sweden, December 5 – Cerve has developed an API for real-time data integration across food supply chains, to improve efficiency and reduce waste and costs. The company raised $4.47 million in pre-venture capital from The First Thirty, SuperSeed, Ponderosa Ventures, and Zenith.
United States, December 5 – Propagate assists farmers in agroforestry projects, offering tailored planting layouts and technical support, for permanent crops including fruit and nut trees. The company raised $24.6 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Netherlands, December 4 – Farmless produces proteins through fermentation using renewable energy, microbes, CO₂, water, and hydrogen. The company received a $1.05 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund.
Netherlands, December 1 – Agcurate specializes in precision agriculture, using satellite imagery and analytics to optimize crop management. The company received undisclosed funding from Caucasus Ventures and Hackquarters.
New Food Finance Resources
Our Monthly Market Report aims to increase transparency around market news and prices in our “green transition” space:
December 4: Monthly Market Report – November
November 6: Monthly Market Report – October
Our Deep-Dive Briefings each give the low-down on an emerging technology up-ending food production:
December 10: Cutting Methane Emissions – Are Feed Supplements the Answer
November 27: Cultivated Meat Optimisation and Innovation
November 13: Bacteriophages in green agriculture
October 30: Sustainable Animal Feed Additives
October 15: Proteins as Biological pesticides
October 1: Crop Trait Development – Genetic Manipulati