WillAgri
A very recent survey by two bodies specialising in the funding of start-ups – idea2scale (www.ideatoscale.com ) and Agfunder (www.agfunder.com ) – involving 50 international investment funds active in food and Agtech has helped to rank the preferences of these investors by category and by geographic area. Over half of them (58%) claimed that their first preference was Ag Biotech – which includes inputs for crops, genetics and seeds – and animal innovations including genetics, microbiome, breeding and healthcare. Research in the field of Biotech has implications in terms of the environment, including carbon sequestration thanks to smart fertilisers, alternative pesticides, soil health and plant growth. The second most popular category for investors (56%) was food innovation, obviously including the flourishing alternative protein sector and particularly vegetarian meat substitutes. Sales in this sector are forecast to jump from $4.6 billion in 2018 to $85 billion by 2030. 34 million American adults already claim to be ‘flexitarians’ (meaning that they do not eat meat every day). The third and final category preferred by investors (45%) concerned farm management and sensors that record information about soil condition. In terms of geographic preferences, the United States was chosen by 67% of those surveyed, followed by Europe with 65%. However, 57% of the investors believe that Asia is the continent of the future for Agtech.
Source : AgFunder