Agrifood Funding Is Growing in the Lab and the Bank

BeyondMeat, the company selling pea-based meat substitute has had the biggest IPO of the year so far, moving from startup to public company in an impressive succession and putting the spotlight on the agrifood startup world.

Over the past six years, funding for agrifood tech startups has grown by 550 percent, hitting nearly $17 billion last year, according to Agfunder. Just between 2017 and 2018, that corner of the startup world grew by 43 percent. Startups in the agricultural space are using technology to improve animal health; breeding; farm management and techniques; create cultured meat, and change the way food is distributed to restaurants and homes. These seed funding deals have primarily gone to organizations in the United States.

By 2100, there is projected to be 11 billion people on the planet. The number of people is expanding and so is wealth. Both trends are combing to put pressure on the agriculture sector to innovate and adapt to meet the growing food quantity and quality demands. Agritech companies will play a big role in changing how food is produced and distributed to meet those growing needs.