AgriFood venture company Finistere Ventures unveiled the latest findings of its AgriFood Tech Investment Review series, which provides a comprehensive assessment of global agrifood tech financing activity and breaks down important trends by region, subsector and stage for both agtech and foodtech ecosystems. According to Finistere Ventures’ 2020 AgriFood Tech Investment Review, a report developed in collaboration with PitchBook Data, total global investment in agrifood tech companies in 2020 surged to a colossal $22.3 billion – $5B in agtech and $17.3B in foodtech – continuing to grow at 50% CAGR (2010-2020); Finistere expects 2021 to exceed this record year based on early investment data.
“While 2020 presented some interesting and, at times, surprising outcomes for the agrifood sector, we saw fear turn into fear of missing out (FOMO) with favorable results for startups, particularly those in later stage situations with meaningful revenue and strong growth stories. Low interest rates and a soaring equity market have provided a backdrop unseen in the relatively short history of the sector. Investors attracted to the potential disruption of massive total addressable markets fueled increases in investment across all stages and segments,” noted Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures.
The report provides a detailed analysis of which sub-sectors earned the most investor interest in 2020 (from whom and why), breaks out investment trends by region and stage over the course of the decade, evaluates exit values, and includes a preliminary look at investment activity in early 2021.
Based on the report, the race for innovation access is heating up and creating a new level for agrifood investing. A renewed focus on climate change and carbon offsets is gaining momentum, and rising ESG interest is spilling over into venture-backed companies across agrifood. Involvement from new or non-traditional players – family offices, large pension and sovereign wealth groups, late-stage PE – swelled and the role of CVCs across the space continued to grow. In fact, 2020 saw 8054 unique investors participate across over 9000 transactions in the agrifood space.
“We are on the precipice of a decade of vital agrifood tech advancements as investments and profits boom – the roaring 20s just earned a new meaning. We expect 2021 to dwarf 2020 numbers as capital continues to flood into the technology categories with absolutely massive disruption potential like indoor ag, supply chain technologies, animal health, novel ingredients and alternative proteins,” continued Kukutai.“Valuations, deal totals and market sizes will continue to climb thanks to low interest rates, free-flowing capital and trillions of dollars of pent-up consumer spending power. However, as the market inevitably right sizes and new categories of innovation emerge to meet these monumental shifts, we also expect substantial consolidation and the rise of distinct market leaders.”
Explore the full report findings, supporting graphics such as agtech and foodtech startup market maps, a snapshot of the top 2020 AgTech and FoodTech deals, and research methodology in more detail here.
For more information:
Finistere Ventures
www.finistere.com