Agritech investment up

Author: Dawn Southgate

Last year investments in agricultural and food technology rose by over 40% to $17 billion. Agritech has become popular among entrepreneurs and tech experts over the past few years thanks to a growing global population, environmental issues, a shortage of labour and changing consumer tastes. According to AgFunder, a venture capital platform, most of the funding recorded last year went to restaurant and grocery delivery services. However, biotech investments were up by over 50% to $1.5 billion. There was also an 8.6% increase in funding for “novel farming systems”, such as insect farms. The innovative food category (alternative meat) suffered a 4.7% fall in funding.

Financial Times, 8 March 2019, p14

[First published in Cutting Edge, 13 March 2019]