International

[ad_1] Countless startups, VCs, and corporates are hard at work building the agri-foodtech ecosystem, but one startup is hoping to provide some much needed digital glue for the app-based offerings in the segment. Describing itself as providing the industry’s “critically-needed infrastructure,” Leaf has developed an API intended to make it easy for anyone to seamlessly […]

[ad_1] How hard can it be to count pigs, you may ask? Believe it or not, it’s super hard. So difficult, in fact, that National Pork Board director Bill Even brought it up during an interview with AFN last year. As a livestock producer myself, I can attest to having spent more minutes than I’d […]

[ad_1] In a world of African Swine Fever, increasing scrutiny of the meat industry and consumer demand for transparency, the pork industry needs to modernize. But according to Chris Bomgaars, founder of EveryPig, a software platform for pork producers to track pig health, many in the industry are reticent to move on from how things […]

[ad_1] French animal feed developer Huddle Corp recently closed a €1.5 million ($1.65 million) funding round from European private equity firm Demeter’s food-focused Agrinnovation funds. The new round will be used to help Huddle Corp scale up for its target market: aquaculture. “After nine months of market investigation, interviews with farmers, academics, and players in […]

[ad_1] Low cost and brutal effectiveness. That pretty much sums up why chemical insecticides are the dominant way to keep insects from nibbling away at crops. Yet many of these chemicals are facing growing regulatory, scientific and media backlash. Recent research findings point to collateral damage to non-invasive, ecologically vital species of plants, insects, fish, […]

[ad_1] A note from Jennie Moss, managing director, Rethink Events: In this fascinating interview, Banks Baker pinpoints many of the critical themes in animal health and nutrition that we’ve also been hearing from the Animal AgTech Advisory Board and network. New and next-gen technologies in animal feed, preventative health, and precision monitoring are critical to […]

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: Solinftec is an AgFunder portfolio company. We invested in an extension of its TPG-led Series A round in 2017 as one of our first investments, beginning if our global portfolio. Brazilian digital agtech company Solinftec has raised $60 million in funding at Series B stage to become the biggest agtech deal on […]

[ad_1] India’s population is growing in size and wealth while grappling with pollution and climate stress. This all, in turn, exerts pressure on the subcontinent’s sprawling food systems, which have long been criticized for being too opaque, too complex, too wasteful — and too hard on the millions of smallholder farmers doing their best to […]

[ad_1] When a major foodservice player like Sodexo calls up your relatively young startup to ask whether you’d be interested in providing indoor ag services for their university clients, it’s safe to say you’ve arrived. “Their partnership team reached out to us and said this is a huge problem we are trying to solve and […]

[ad_1] Acre Venture Partners (Acre VP), the agri-foodtech investment firm, has reached a first close on its second fund, a multi-LP fund targeting around $125 million, the same size it reached for Fund I. The firm was founded in 2016 when it launched Fund I, a single LP fund backed by Campbell’s Soup. Fund II […]

[ad_1] *Stay tuned for updates to this story later today after we speak to Agworld about why it invested in Greenbook and how it intends to use its platform.* There’s been a lot of talk about increasing consolidation in the agtech space lately. With breaking news of another tie-up this morning, perhaps the talk is […]

[ad_1] Canadian cleantech fund ArcTern has contributed to a $3.5 million increase in the Series B round of funding for Canadian agtech startup Terramera. Terramera is a crop protection products manufacturer that aims to reduce chemical use in agriculture by 80%. This is ArcTern’s fourth investment from its $200 million Fund II but appears to […]

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: Vonnie Estes is VP of Technology at the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and a regular contributor to AFN – see her previous posts here. PMA represents companies from every segment of the global produce and floral supply chain. Estes is a prominent figure in the agriculture biotech scene, having held technology leadership roles at prominent […]

[ad_1] Editor’s Note: AFN’s Lauren Stine collaborated with Successful Farming’s Laurie Bedord to interview Lynn Rohrscheib about her farm and use of technology. From driving equipment to building a fence to stacking hay, there was always something new for Elyssa McFarland to learn growing up on her family’s grain and livestock farm near Columbus Junction, Iowa. Yet, […]

[ad_1] “One thing I learned in the car business is how tough the environment is on the road and it’s a very similar problem in farming. A lot of the technology is just too delicate and fiddly; durability is a big one in the farm environment.” Marc Tarpenning, cofounder of the renowned electric vehicle manufacturer […]