AgriTech startups are flourishing – in a modern world where innovation is expanding across every sector, farming and agriculture have not been left out.
Whilst the applications of new technology are as varied as agriculture itself, its broad aim is simple – to enable farmers to grow more food, more efficiently. This may mean more crops in less space, or increased yields with fewer inputs.
Agritech also covers automation and other time/cost-saving technologies.
There are hundreds of different startups in this field (apologies for the pun) – but here are 25 doing brilliantly, to help introduce you to the sector.
Agriprotein
Agriprotein specializes in nutrient recycling to create sustainable sources of protein for the mono-gastric animal feed industry.
2008 – Cape Town, NA – South Africa
David Drew, Jason Drew
Total funding: $122.5m
Apeel Sciences
Apeel Sciences develop plant-derived shelf life extension technology for fresh produce that extends shelf-life and reduces food waste. Apeel Sciences’ plant-derived doubles the lifespan of harvested fruits and vegetables without refrigeration. Their low-cost, natural technologies help to eliminate food spoilage, reduce water and energy use, and preserve natural ecosystems.
BluWrap
BluWrap provides naturally extended shelf-life technology and solutions that have revolutionised fresh food supply chains worldwide. Bluwrap’s purpose is twofold; their natural solutions increase product value for customers, while reducing harmful environmental impact.
2006 – San Francisco, California, USA
Bell Larry
Total funding: $12.6m
Connecterra
Connecterra is an AgTech startup using AI to optimise the dairy farming industry. Connecterra is building Artificial Intelligence to grow food sustainably. Their mission is to give people a previously impossible understanding of the world around them so they can make more productive, humane and sustainable use of Earth’s natural resources.
2014 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Saad Ansari, Yasir Khokhar
Total funding: $18.3m
Deep Branch Biotechnology
Deep Branch Biotechnology is developing scalable technology aimed at transforming the polluters of today into the producers of tomorrow. Deep Branch Biotechnology creates clean, nutritious and sustainable single cell protein from carbon dioxide present in industrial waste gas. By making use of this carbon dioxide, they are reducing the carbon footprint of emitters and offering sustainable alternatives to soy and fishmeal for the feed industry.
2018 – Nottingham, UK
Peter Rowe, Robert Mansfield
Total funding: $10.9m
Entocycle
Entocycle is the developer of an automated insect farm that produces environmentally friendly insect protein to feed farmed animals. This is a more efficient and sustainable way of producing protein. The automated system enables them to produce at an industrial scale and offer farmers a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to soymeal and fishmeal.
2014 – London, England, UK
Keiran Olivares Whitaker
Total funding: $11m
Farm Drop
Farm Drop is an online marketplace for ordering farm produce with on-demand cultivation. Farm Drop connects consumers and local farmers offering farm produce. Once customers place an order a farmer is notified and then harvests the produce to fulfil the order. This way, farmers get a fairer price for their produce, and consumers receive fresher products.
2012 – London, England, UK
Ben Patten, Ben Pugh, Ned Staple
Total funding: $41.8m
Farmer’s Business Network
FBN is an AgriTech and commerce platform that helps its members make confident decisions to ensure the economic viability of their farms. The business comprises of an agricultural tech and commerce platform and farmer-to-farmer network. The startup aims to help its members make confident decisions to ensure the economic viability of their farms and work toward a sustainable future.
2014 – San Carlos, California, United States
Amol Deshpande, Charles Baron
Total funding: $870.4m
Web: https://www.fbn.com/
GrubMarket
GrubMarket supplies local fresh food online with affordable prices and convenient delivery. Their website enables sellers to offer foods at wholesale prices to customers. Their offerings include foods from local farms, fisheries, commercial kitchens, certified home kitchens, and restaurants.
2014 – San Carlos, California, United States
Mike Xu
Total funding: $382.1m
Hummingbird Technologies
Hummingbird Technologies have developed an artificial intelligence SaaS platform using the latest deep learning and computer vision techniques along with proprietary algorithms to provide actionable intelligence to farmers and agri-businesses at key decision-making times in the growing season. Using AI, Hummingbird Technologies can analyse crop health, disease risk and detection, weed mapping and yield prediction in plants.
2015 – London, England, UK
Will Wells
Total funding: $17.6m
iFarm
iFarm develops data-driven technologies, software and solutions for automated vertical farms. Their proprietary tech, indoor farm management Growtune software and wraparound services maximise technological efficiency, optimise yields and increase farm productivity.
2017 – Helsinki, Southern Finland, Finland
Alex Lyskovsky, Konstantin Ulianov, Max Chizhov
Total funding: $4m
Web: https://ifarm.fi/
Indigo
Indigo uses natural microbiology and digital technologies to improve grower profitability, sustainability, and consumer health. Indigo’s approach focuses on the microbes that have evolved in conjunction with plants over billions of years to optimise their health and maximize their productivity. Their method benefits farmers by producing a greater crop yield, and consumers by making fundamental changes in how their food is grown.
2014 – Boston, Massachusetts, USA
David Berry, Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Ignacio Martinez, Noubar Afeyan
Total funding: $1.2b
Intelligent Growth Solutions
IGS makes platforms that deliver ideal climates for plants and people. According to IGS, their model is based upon a culture of continuous innovation, brilliant, simple design and a refusal to accept conventional technical thinking. IGS creates automated growth towers which can be programmed to suit diverse crops and to create a controlled environment through smart automation, power management, and lighting solutions.
2013 – Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Dave Scott, Henry Aykroyd
Total funding: $70.8m
Meicai
Meicai sells agricultural products online that aims to change agriculture, rural areas, and farmers through the Internet. Using the Meicai platform, businesses and restaurants can order fresh produce directly from the farms.
2014 – Beijing, China
Chuanjun Liu, Xueyin Xu
Total funding: $1.5b
Pivot Bio
Pivot Bio is an agricultural tech startup improving the microbiome by taking nitrogen from the air and making it available for plants. Pivot Bio is leveraging a deep understanding of the microbiome to advance crop nutrition. They believe that microbes can deliver nutrients, protect against pests, and improve crop quality better than chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
2011 – Berkeley, California, USA
Alvin Tamsir, Karsten Temme
Total funding: $616.7m
Plenty
Plenty is a vertical farming company that brings fresh, pesticide-free produce to customers. Plenty operates vertical farms that use a fraction of the water and land required in conventional farming. Additionally, the farms are pesticide-free and produce zero fertilizer runoff. Farming is a growing industry, and the future of smart farming is set to transform the landscape further.
2014 – South San Francisco, California, USA
Jack Oslan, Matt Barnard, Nate Mazonson, Nate Storey
Total funding: $941m
Web: https://plenty.ag/
Prospera
Prospera is an agriculture technology data company that develops intelligent solutions. Prospera’s technology allows them to monitor and analyse plant health. Additionally, by capturing climate and visual data from the field they can provide actionable insights to growers via mobile and web.
2014 – Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel
Daniel Koppel, Raviv Itzhaky, Shimon Shpiz
Total funding: $22m
Web: https://prospera.ag/
Pycno
Pycno is bringing continuous data monitoring and system control to agriculture. Pycnno enables farmers to improve the efficiency of their land by developing wireless soil sensors and a software platform with actionable advice. Through collecting more data from fields, farmers can make more accurate decisions and increase yields while using resources, such as water and fertiliser more efficiently.
2014 – Valencia, Spain
Marios Georgiou, Nahuel Lavino
Total funding: $515.6m
Sencrop
Sencrop is an ag-tech startup that empowers farmers to make better decisions in their daily agricultural activities. Sencrop achieves this through its weather forecast solutions for farmers to measure rain, hygrometry, and wind speed. The sensors are cheap, robust, movable, and easy to use, for maximum efficiency and sustainability in farming.
2016 – Lille, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
Martin Ducroquet, Michael Bruniaux
Total funding: $12m
The Small Robot Company
The Small Robot Company is an AgriTech startup delivering per plant farming for the world’s largest crops. Their pioneering ‘per plant intelligence’ approach is based on using lightweight autonomous vehicles providing a near-real-time view of each crop plant as it grows through the season. This approach offers insights into how each plant can be best grown. This efficient method cuts down on the overuse of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and fertiliser.
2017 – Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK
Ben Scott-Robinson, Sam Watson Jones
Total funding: $12.4m
Taranis
Taranis is an agriculture intelligence platform that uses computer vision, data science, and deep learning algorithms to monitor fields. Using their advanced system, Taranis can detect early symptoms of weeds, uneven emergence, nutrient deficiencies, disease or insect infestations, water damage, and machinery problems.
2014 – Westfield, Indiana, USA
Asaf Horvitz, Ayal Karmi, Eli Bukchin, Ofir Schlam
Total funding: $59.6m
Web: https://taranis.ag/
Tropic Biosciences
Tropic Biosciences is a pioneering leader in the development of novel high-performing commercial tropical crop varieties and traits. Tropic Biosciences aims to promote grower wellbeing, consumer health, and improved sustainable environmental practices by using their novel non-GMO gene-editing techniques.
2016 – London, England, UK
Eyal Maori, Gilad Gershon, Ofir Meir
Total funding: $38.5m
Vertical Future
Vertical Future is a technology company focused on building a better, more sustainable urban food production and supply system. Vertical Future develops hardware and software solutions to enhance vertical farming operations. Their technologies offer full automation, energy efficiency, high-tech sensors, and full software integrations, which are used internationally.
2016 – London, England, UK
Jamie Burrows, Marie Burrows
Total funding: $26.2m
Vital Fields
Vital Fields is a digital agriculture company that offers an easy-to-use farm management system for farmers to plan, manage and analyse their field activities, including simplified tracking and reporting of all crop inputs to help ensure compliance with European Union environmental standards.
2012 – Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
Martin Rand, Vahur Meus
Total funding: $2.2m
Wefarm
Wefarm is a farmer-to-farmer digital network that enables users to share information via SMS. The startup has created an online and SMS platform that uses machine learning, to connect small-scale farmers and enable them to solve problems, share ideas, and spread farming innovation.
This is a list of startups that are working hard to change the life of the planet, making it a better place for us all.
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