💸 20 Largest AgriFoodTech Raises of Q1

As we wrap up Q1, we take a look back at the largest 20 fundraises in AgriFoodTech totalling over $1.2 billion between them.

Despite the challenging fundraising environment, founders continue to raise the funding they need to radically transform the future of food.

Without further ado 🥁

👉 Recap all the rounds of Q1 head this way.
👉 See the 20 largest rounds from Q1 scroll down.
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20 Largest AgriFoodTech Raises of Q1, 2024

🧺 Dutch online grocery company Picnic secured €355 million to expand its presence in France and Germany. It delivers lower-cost, own-brand groceries from local distribution warehouses using small electric vans, and uses AI-powered demand forecasting to minimise waste.as

🍓 US vertical farming company Oishii, which primarily produces berries, secured $134 million Series B funding in a round led by Japanese telecommunications firm NTT to expand its distribution to new markets, open a new solar-powered facility and invest in advanced robotics and energy-saving innovations.

🌾 Seed gene-editing startup Inari raised $103 million at a post-money valuation of $1.65 billion as it prepares for commercialisation. Its platform produces soybean, corn and wheat seeds that produce the same or greater yield as conventional while using fewer resources.

🇪🇪 Estonian startup Starship Technologies raised $90 million in a round led by Plural and Iconical. Its sidewalk delivery robots have collectively travelled 11 million miles in some 80 locations across the US and Europe, for partners including the grocery chain Co-Op and food services companies like Aramark, Sodexo and Grubhub.

💰 Precision fermentation pioneer Perfect Day raised a pre-series E funding round of ‘up to $90 million’ to support its next chapter, and announced that co-founders Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi are stepping down.

🤖 US-based Bear Robotics secured $60 million from LG Electronics. Its AI-powered server robots are autonomous towers on wheels designed to replace restaurant waiters, and are currently operating in several establishments across the US, Japan and South Korea.

🍄 Germany’s Infinite Roots, formerly known as Mushlabs, secured $58 million Series B funding, marking “the largest investment” in mycelium technologies in Europe to date. It will use the funds to “enter a new era of commercial growth”.

🍗 Spanish plant-based meat startup Heura raised €40 million Series B funding, marking one of the largest investments into a vegan company in the past year, to accelerate its international expansion plans and explore more collaborative models beyond its own meat alternatives as it drives towards profitability.

🥗 LA-based ProducePay secured $38 million Series D funding to help tackle fresh produce supply chain waste. Its proprietary agri-fintech platform provides fruits and vegetables growers with financing and market intelligence to support them to meet their commitments.

🦗 Dutch insect protein startup Protix, which uses waste from the food industry as feed for insects that then are processed into valuable nutrients such as proteins and lipids, secured investment from the European Investment Bank through a loan agreement with up to €37 million in additional funds to support its international expansion plans. 

✍️ Owner.com raised $33 million Series B funding for its all-in-one platform for restaurants which includes online ordering, a website builder, customer relationship management tools, marketing automation and a branded mobile app generator to “help restaurant owners fight back”.

🤖 US-based Burro raised $24 million Series B funding to grow its autonomous harvest-assist robots from ‘people to pallet scale’ within the most labour-intensive areas of agriculture.

🍫 Californian CPG startup Voyage Foods secured $22 million to scale its portfolio of ethical pantry staples, including cocoa-free chocolates which it claims are the “most sustainable ever” after an independent life-cycle assessment.

☁️ AtmosZero secured $21 million Series A funding to decarbonise industrial steam, used across sectors such as food and beverage and chemical manufacturing. Its proprietary ‘Boiler 2.0’ technology extracts heat from the air to produce high-temperature steam with maximum efficiency and without emitting any carbon.

🦛 Hippo Harvest raised $21 million Series B funding, in a round led by Standard Investments, at a $145 million post-money valuation. It uses closed-loop, direct-to-root fertiliser systems, machine learning and robots to grow fresh produce in repurposed greenhouses, reducing food waste and land use.

🥤US probiotic soda brand Culture Pop Soda raised $21 million in a Series B funding round led by Enlighten Hospitality. It will use the funds to further expand its operations.

🍽️ Germany’s NeoTaste raised €21 million Series A funding for its restaurant discovery app, which offers consumers exclusive introductory offers to help restaurants widen their customer base.

🍭 Ingredient company Elo Life Systems raised a $20.5 million Series A extension from existing investors to commercialise its natural, monk fruit-derived sweetener, which it claims is 300 times sweeter than sugar without the calories.

🇮🇱 SeeTree, based in Israel, secured $17.5 million in a Series C funding round co-led by HSBC Asset Management and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its “tree intelligence platform” uses military-grade drones, ground sensors, AI, multi-spectral imaging and in-field data collection to digitise the process of monitoring tree health within orchards and forests.

🍗 Israel’s Mediterranean Food Lab raised $17 million Series A funding to scale its AI-powered solid state fermentation technology, which it uses to create ingredients it claims can “transform the sensory experience of eating plant-based foods”.