15 Dec 2022
7 investors discuss how agtech can solve agriculture’s biggest problems
By: Harri Weber, TechCrunch
“Over the last few years, we have seen skyrocketing interest in sustainability from consumers and food brands, and awareness over the negative impacts of agriculture continues to grow, People are not only paying more attention to agricultural-related emissions but also how much land and water is required to support the world’s food supply and the amount of runoff being generated."
- Ting-Ting Liu, Investor at Prosus Ventures
Climate change and geopolitical instability are wreaking havoc on agriculture. To gauge how VCs are responding to these issues, we spoke with seven investors. For starters, rising greenhouse gas emissions are driving punishing droughts and storms, which are harming crops, exacerbating food insecurity, and threatening countless livelihoods. At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is rattling the world’s grain supply, driving up costs and further aggravating supply chains.
Even as these and other crises hammer the multitrillion-dollar industry, startup investors see potential for huge returns with tech that could boost yields, slash emissions and mitigate waste.
Consumer behavior is another piece of the proverbial puzzle as climate literacy increasingly alters how folks shop. “Over the last few years, we have seen skyrocketing interest in sustainability from consumers and food brands, and awareness over the negative impacts of agriculture continues to grow,” said Ting-Ting Liu, investor at Prosus Ventures. “People are not only paying more attention to agricultural-related emissions but also how much land and water is required to support the world’s food supply and the amount of runoff being generated,” she said.
Liu argued that this demand is creating strong tailwinds for businesses that strive to address agriculture’s environmental impact, ultimately driving more capital into everything from cellular agriculture to methane reduction solutions for livestock. Still, agtech is not immune to some of the broader trends in venture. While the value of agtech VC deals rose to $11.4 billion in 2021 from $6.5 billion in 2020, several investors told TechCrunch they’ve noticed a slowdown in agtech deals this year amid the wider tech downturn of 2022.
See more on investor perspectives, including Ashu Sharma, Head of Indian Investments, Prosus Ventures, and Ting-Ting Liu, Investor Prosus Ventures: https://techcrunch.com/2023/prosusventures