Data Snapshot is a regular feature of AgFunderNews that analyzes investment data in the agri-foodtech market provided by our parent company, AgFunder.
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Parts of Australia are considered climate hotspots and are experiencing the most extreme effects of climate change. So the bulk of last year’s agri-foodtech funding (87%) went to climate change mitigation companies, from soil carbon storage startup Loam Bio to livestock methane reduction companies Rumin8, Number8 Bio, Provectus Algae, and insect farmers. This means that it was sent to an upstream startup company focused on. Goterra converts food waste into more sustainable animal feed and fertilizer.
Also featured are an innovative startup that deploys ultra-high voltage electric fields (“lightning in a box”) to increase crop yields (Rainstick), and self-driving cars that reduce labor costs and chemical inputs on farms (SwarmFarm). Robotics), and an innovative start-up deploying wireless telemetry for tracking were also examined. Animals (wildlife drones).
But there were fewer deals in downstream categories, from eGrocer Our Cow to wholesale ordering platforms FoodByUs and FOBOH, food ordering app Lively and restaurant technology platform Restopplus.
Like most countries featured in AgFunder’s recent Global Agri-Food Tech Investment Report, agri-food tech investment in Australia peaked in 2021 and has since declined sharply. However, while the 33% decline in funding for Australian agri-food tech startups in 2023 is nothing to celebrate for founders desperate for funding, the decline in funding for agri-food tech startups around the world during the same period is nothing to celebrate. This was modest compared to the 49% decline.
Investment in Australian agri-foodtech startups has fallen over the past two years, but funding levels in 2023 are also expected to rise ahead of the pandemic and subsequent hectic period of cheap money, large funding rounds and inflated valuations. This was a significant increase compared to 2019. In contrast, overall investment in agri-foodtech startups on a global basis was lower in 2023 ($15.6 billion) than in 2019 ($21.4 billion).
- 2023: 29 (-29%) $187.1 million -33%
- 2022: 41 (-33%) $278 million -32%
- 2021: 61 (+17%) $410.9 million +88%
- 2020: 52 (+33%) $218.1 million +173%
- 2019: 39 (-5%) $79.9 million +53%
It’s too early to say what 2024 will look like for Australian startups, but preliminary data from AgFunder suggests things haven’t improved in the first quarter of this year.
Top 10 agri-foodtech funding rounds in Australia in 2023 (all figures in USD):
1 – ROHM BIO raised $73.2 million in a Series B round co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Wollemi Capital in February 2023. The funding was used to expand the availability of seed coatings that increase plants’ ability to store carbon in the soil.
2 – Based in Arundel, Queensland stacked farmThe company, which operates automated indoor farms for growing leafy vegetables, raised $26.7 million in a round led by Tayside Investments Australia in June 2023. This new capital was used to begin construction of his new 7,200 square meter facility in Melbourne.
3 – eden brew raised $15.4 million in a Series A round led by Main Sequence Ventures in October 2023 to help build an “animal-free” dairy business. Eden Brew produces all four casein proteins in milk separately through precision fermentation and sends the protein powder to dairy partner Norco, who combines it with other ingredients to make milk.
4 – Perth location Lumin 8— a startup that uses precision fermentation to produce bromoform, a bioactive compound from red seaweed that reduces methane emissions in ruminants — raised $12 million in a seed round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures in January 2023. Procured. This capital was allocated to commercial trials in Australia and New Zealand. , Brazil, the United States, and the development of pilot manufacturing plants.
Five – FoodByUsThe Sydney-based wholesale ordering platform for food service companies raised $12 million in a Series B round led by Base Capital in January 2023. The company enables cafes, hotels, bars, pubs and clubs to source wholesale food supplies and streamline the procurement process. , compare prices on hundreds of thousands of products.
6 – Shiitake-fueled meat alternative startup allegorical food The company raised $8.5 million in a Series A round led by K3 Ventures in February 2023. The company has developed a unique cooking process that improves the meatiness and umami of the mushrooms, de-emphasizing the traditional sulfur mushroom flavor, and focuses on premium prices. A quick service segment that emphasizes health. [Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder has invested in Fable Food.]
7- SwarmFarm Robotics raised $8.4 million in a Series A round led by Emertech in February 2023. The capital will support the expansion of the company’s self-driving “SwarmBot” fleet and SwarmConnect operating system, allowing self-driving vehicles to be programmed to engage in specific tasks, from weeding to precision spraying.
8 – convoy kegThe company, which rents beer kegs to brewers, raised $8.2 million in a Series E round in October 2023. The capital injection was used to expand the business into the UK and Ireland and extend the company’s Konvoy Cloud IOT keg tracking solution to other keg fleet owners.
9 – Canberra location GoteraThe company, which uses insects to convert food waste from partners including Woolworths into animal feed and fertilizer, announced a $6.6 million investment in August and another in December to expand its black soldier fly larva farming operation. An undisclosed amount was raised.
10 – Medical Cannabis Company kanaponics It raised $3.5 million in a crowdfunding round in May 2023 through facilitator Birchal. Based in the mining town of Collie, Washington, Cannaponics has 67 hectares of land for cannabis cultivation and 3,600 square meters of land to dry cannabis flowers using EnWave Corp’s rapid and gentle drying process called radiant energy vacuum technology. I have a greenhouse. This new capital was used to complete construction of a manufacturing facility in Corry and build a 1-megawatt solar energy farm.
