💰Top 4 Trends Food & AgTech VCs are hungry for in 2024

Read time: 4 minutes 33 seconds (broke my own 3-minute rule)

Hi friend👋,

Happy Friday morning!

So, here’s the deal - I’ve been off-grid, hiking through the woods the last couple of days and lost track of time.

But I made a promise to drop this newsletter into your inbox at 9.35 CET sharp every other Friday. And a promise is a promise, even if it means running on next to no sleep.

So, let's dive into this second VITAMIN C edition, crafted at midnight.

Today’s rundown:

1. [Insights]: 💰Top 4 Trends Food & AgTech VCs are hungry for in 2024

2. Fast Snacks:
   - [Game]: 🌳 Find Yourself in the Climate Tree
   - [Ecosystem map]: 📌 Berlin’s food impact ecosystem mapping
   - [Program rec.]: 🚀 The next AgTech unicorns are coming from Europe

1. 💰Top 4 Trends Food & AgTech VCs are hungry for in 2024

Over the last months I had 50+ startup and investor coffee dates and have read 15+ of the latest VC impact and investment reports.

Here are the most exciting categories VC money is moving to in 2024 and beyond:

1- SMART PROTEINS

• Cultivated Meat: cell-based, lab-grown, cultured – all these terms refer to cultivated meat, meaning real meat made from animal cells without killing any animals. Singapore was the first country to approve cultivated meat, followed by the US, which approved products from two companies last year. EU will hopefully follow soon.

  • Startup examples: Mosa Meat (Netherlands) developed the first cultivated burger ever 10y ago. Or my friends at Bluu Bioscience (Germany) who are developing real seafood with zero trade-offs.  
    

• Mycelium Magic: Mycelium is the “roots” of fungi which can be turned into a variety of products, from fabrics to construction materials. And you guessed right, into smart meats as well.

  • Startup example: Infinite Roots (formerly known as Mushlabs, Germany) who just raised a whopping $58m in funding
    

• Proteins from Air: A schnitzel made from CO2, hydrogen, and microorganisms? What sounds like sci-fiction, might be reality in the next few years thanks to complex fermentation-based processes that startups are developing:

  • Startup examples: Arkeon Biotechnologies (Austria) and Farmless (Netherlands)

2- Decarbonization along the value chain

• Methane Busters: If the world's 1+ billion cows were a country, they'd be one of the top 3 greenhouse gas emitters. Methane has 86x more global warming potential than CO2. Luckily, startups are developing algae-based solutions that can reduce methane emissions from cows by 80-90%

  • Startup examples: Volta Greentech (Sweden) or Rumin8 (Australia)
    

• Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW): It is no secret that removing carbon from the atmosphere is crucial in battling the climate crisis. A relatively new technique is called “Enhanced Rock Weathering” - taking rocks, smashing them, and spreading them over farmland. This accelerates CO2 absorption, improves soil health and boosts crop yields.

  • Startup examples: UNDO (UK) or Eion Carbon (USA)
    

• Insetting: Most food corporates have declared CO2 reduction targets, but lack roadmaps to achieve them. Carbon offsetting has been highly criticized for greenwashing. So, what’s the alternative? Insetting! It’s the implementation of nature-based solutions such as reforestation or regenerative agriculture to slay emissions within one’s own supply chain. In other words: Insetting is doing more good rather than less harm within a value chain.

  • Startup example: Tierra Foods (UK, Mexico)

3- REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

• Soil Health & Soil Monitoring: The ground beneath our feet, that’s where the magic happens. One of the key principles of regenerative agriculture is soil health. The health of the soil is just as important as the health of the plants we are growing in it.

  • Startup examples: BetterSoil (Germany) or Soil Capital (Netherlands)
    

• Tech-based Platforms for Climate-smart Plants: Startups are making agriculture more productive and sustainable by using cutting-edge genetic innovations to improve climate-critical crops like banana, coffee, and rice.

  • Startup examples: BetterSeeds (Israel) or Tropic Biosciences (UK)

• Green Ammonia: Ammonia is a key ingredient in fertilizers, approximately 50% of food production is dependent on ammonia. But there's a dark side... When we dump it on fields, it doesn't just vanish. It spreads in the air, teams up with other pollutants, and creates this fine dust that's no friend to our lungs or the environment. It's a silent problem that's been flying under the radar, but now, startups are stepping up to develop green ammonia alternatives. 

  • Startup examples: Nium (UK) or Remo Energy (USA)

4- FOOD WASTE REDUCTION & CIRCULARITY

• Food Waste Reduction: Food waste. It’s a massive problem. One-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted every year. But guess what? Startups are tackling this issue head-on, employing technology to minimize waste throughout the food supply chain – from farm to fork.

  • Startup examples: Sprk Global (Germany) or Spoiler Alert (USA)

• Turning ‘Side Streams’ into ‘Main Streams’: Imagine the leftovers from one gig becoming the star player for the next. By-products, those so-called 'side streams', are getting a major upgrade to 'main stream' status.

  • Startup examples: ÄIO Tech (Estonia) uses side streams to develop microbial oils and fats as alternatives to coconut and palm oils. Greencovery (Netherlands) is producing flavours, preservatives and fibres from side-streams.

2. Today’s fast snacks

• [Game]: 🌳 Find Yourself in the Climate Tree

Check out this sketch. It’s a tree teeming with different characters. Now, picture this tree as the big challenge of climate change. Where on the tree do you see yourself and your perspective towards climate change?

• [Ecosystem Map]: 📌 Are you based in Berlin and lost track of who does what in agri-food? Planning to come to Berlin and eager to connect with the local agri-food ecosystem? Here is your cheat sheet 

• [Program rec.]: 🚀 Are you a founder in Agtech or FoodTech? Yes!
  Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Yes!
   
  Then I highly recommend applying to the EIT Food Accelerator Network program.
   
  Why?
  
  -      You can win up to 50.000€
  -      The program is free of charge
  -      They take no equity
  -      You get high-class coaching and mentoring
  -      You gain access to corporates, VCs and industry experts
   
  It's all reward, no risk.
  
  I wish this program had existed years ago when I started my first company. Luckily, I get to be part of the jury this year again. 🙌
   

  🚨 Application deadline: February 19, 2024 (only 3 days left!)

  📅 Program: starting on April 15, 2024

Apply here: https://lnkd.in/dw3RWdKM 

That’s it for today. See you in two weeks!

Cheers, Lia