FMC Ventures’ Mark Brooks on the next 10 years in agtech investment: ‘One of the risks is that we repeat the same mistakes’
Expect fewer agtech-specific funds, more corporate involvement and lots of generative AI.
Expect fewer agtech-specific funds, more corporate involvement and lots of generative AI.
Precision ag startup BemAgro will expand its focus into forest management via a new partnership with Suzano Ventures.
It’s unlikely artificial intelligence would ever replace the actual agronomist.
There’s a lot more to autonomy than autonomy.
“A lot of our clients come to us and say they’ve tried using off the shelf AI and in many cases, don’t feel it’s very powerful or helpful,” says Steve Gundrum. “And then they see what we’re able to do with our customized models and it completely changes their perspective.”
Precision agriculture and AI have the potential to transform farming. But legal risks around data privacy and bias need to be carefully navigated, argue Dr. Siegmar Pohl and Jordan Glassman at law firm Kilpatrick.
After experiments with Amy’s Kitchen, Chef Bombay, and Sunbasket, Chef Robotics’ technology is being rolled out across North America.
Google’s parent company Alphabet is winding down operations at AI-fueled ag intelligence startup Mineral, just over a year after it emerged from stealth, although it is licensing some of its tech to partners such as Driscoll’s.
And businesses that don’t engage now risk being left behind, says Justin Honaman: ‘What are you doing today so you are not obsolete tomorrow?’
“We had the human genome project,” says Dr. Claus Felby. “This is the planetary genome project… we are mapping everything in a given ecosystem.”
In an effort to untangle the confusion around UPFs, IFT will host a panel of experts at its upcoming IFT First show in Chicago.
Ag insights platform Gro Intelligence is calling it quits after failing to secure enough capital to stay afloat following a turbulent few months, AgFunderNews understands.
AgFunder’s head of engineering Robin Ranjit Singh Chauhan quizzed founders from three portfolio companies at this year’s AGM to explore how they are harnessing artificial intelligence.
Despite all the bad press around alt proteins, foodtech is an emerging asset class with big potential, says PeakBridge. ‘We can bring tech to bear and make returns.’
Berlin, Germany-based hexafarms just raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding to bring its AI and sensor tech to indoor growers in Europe.
Niqo will use new funding to expand its spot-spraying tech across India and into horticulture markets around the world.
Agrifoodtech investor PeakBridge has closed its Growth Fund II at $187m in partnership with Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, bringing its total AUM (assets under management) to more than $250m.
AI-powered startup Helios has launched what it claims is the world’s first global platform to forecast prices and availability of soft commodities from fruits and vegetables to cocoa.
Shiru has also developed AI and ML-based models to predict protein expression in microbial systems, helping firms determine the most cost effective way to produce target proteins at scale.
Caladan Bio has developed a lower-cost benchtop bioreactor system designed to enhance data capture and increase experimentation throughput.
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