As more than one person interviewed for this article noted, 2024 was something of a year of reckoning for agtech.
That was certainly true of agtech funding, which has staggered along for the last couple years as generalist investors leave the sector and a capital crunch continues. Some even believe we’re on the path to new financing models for agtech, particularly as the venture capital approach may not always be the best fit for the industry.
Arguably more important than money is the need to build further trust with farmers — trust about the efficacy of products and about solving problems they actually have. Even more crucial is making the economic returns of investing in agtech a reality for these growers, no matter where they are in the world.
The following roundup delves into a few areas of agtech that saw notable developments this year; it is not meant to be exhaustive. As always, drop us a line with your own thoughts on the last 12 months in agtech.
Regenerative ag: financing the transition
The question of how to finance the transition to regenerative agriculture was prominent in 2024. Specialty shops like Mad Capital in the US and HeavyFinance in Europe grew in prominence as ways for farmers to hopefully get access to better financing and technical assistance for transitioning.
For smallholder farmers in developing countries, gaining these things are equally if not more important, given that many of these regions grapple with the worst impacts of climate change. Entities like the One Acre Fund and Nzatu are currently working across Africa, Asia and parts of Latin America to help safeguard these smallholders while providing paths to better economic returns.
The bottom line — and perhaps regen ag’s main takeaway for 2024 — is that a growing number of farmers wants to employ regenerative practices but financing and upskilling remain major barriers.
As one report noted, “This “systemic financing problem” for regenerative agriculture can be boiled down to the simple fact that money isn’t getting to farmers and producers able to implement changes “to effect food system transformation at the speed and scale needed to combat climate change,” noted one report this year.
Along with financiers, agrifood corporates could play a role in enabling the transition, too. To that end the list of corporates announcing regenerative agriculture commitments grew as well. ADM, General Mills, Ahold Delhaize, PepsiCo, Bayer and Perdue are just a handful of those companies that made announcements around transitioning supply chain acreage to regen ag. Other organizations, including Daily Harvest and GoodSAM Foods, shared their strategies of bringing more regeneratively grown goods to consumers.
What they’re saying about 2024: Kathleen Alexander, CEO, Savor
“Resiliency in the face of financial headwinds: In 2024, food tech and agtech startups are navigating a markedly different business environment than the early years of the sector’s boom when venture capital was free-flowing. Companies are embracing a more strategic approach, channeling their energy into capital-efficient solutions that prioritize sustainable growth and practical impact. This translates into more conservative spending, more realistic scale-up projections and more nuanced market entry strategies. Ultimately, this approach is far more likely to produce lasting, transformative technologies that can meaningfully address pressing issues in food production, sustainability and global food security.”
Ag biologicals: past the peak of inflated expectations?
The ag biologicals sector, which includes biocontrols to protect crops and biostimulants to enhance growth/productivity, saw numerous developments this year, scientific and otherwise.
New advances in gene sequencing have advanced products in many cases. Meanwhile, new encapsulation technologies from companies like Agrospheres have gone far in solving the many delivery challenges for ag biologicals.
All the major agrochemical companies, including Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta and BASF, now have departments dedicated to biologicals, and have collectively made many acquisitions in the space over the last decade. And as the Mixing Bowl’s well-known market map shows, the industry isn’t wanting for startup activity.
Nonetheless, challenges remain. Excepting perhaps Brazil, the regulatory landscape for vetting biologicals must evolve, said the majority of panelists at this year’s Salinas Biologicals Summit. And there’s still much work to be done when it comes to convincing farmers to switch from chemical products to bio-based alternatives. As Mark Trimmer of Dunham Trimmer said at the event, ““If it doesn’t solve a grower problem, it’s not probably a good investment.”
What they’re saying about 2024: Pam Marrone, cofounder & executive chair, Invasive Species Corporation
What were the biggest developments in biologicals in 2024?
- The first peptide biopesticides declared “biochemical-like” by the EPA
- RNAi biopesticide approved by the EPA
- Despite a challenging financing environment, companies (most Series A or beyond) are getting funding (e.g. Solasta, Switch Bioworks, Elicit Plant, Agrospheres, Biotalys, Micropep, Botanical Solutions)
- Brazil becomes the leader in new active ingredient approvals
- According to Dunham Trimmer, the global market is $9 billion
- Several companies reach and exceed $500 million in sales
Indoor agriculture: ‘another year of reckoning’
In many ways, 2024 was the year of the strawberry for vertical farming.
The sector’s most widely publicized success story of the year was Oishii, which kicked off 2024 with a $134 million Series B round for its vertical farming operation that grows ultra-premium strawberries. The US-based firm closed the Series B at $150 million later in the year. Beyond fundraising (which anyone in vertical farming could tell you isn’t a reliable measure of longevity), Oishii also expanded into more grocery stores across the US, opened a solar-powered production facility, prepped for international expansion, and even released its own strawberry-inspired body wash.
“While many in the industry prioritize short crop cycles and unrelenting expansion, Oishii has bucked all trends by emphasizing taste over timelines and profitability over proliferation,” Akira Shimada, president and CEO of NTT, said in February.
In the greenhouse space, Voltiris and Neatleaf unveiled new innovations around spectral filtering and robotics, respectively, to assist with everything from monitoring plant health to ensuring crops get the most optimal aspects of sunlight. (Disclosure: AgFunderNews’ parent company AgFunder is an investor in Neatleaf.)
Those were a few bright spots in what Agritecture founder Henry Gordon Smith called “another year of reckoning for indoor ag and vertical farming.”
As was the case last year, the sector saw more layoffs and closures in 2024 as its ongoing market correction continued. Perhaps most notably, onetime tech unicorn Bowery, best known for its leafy greens, closed down operations in November. Plenty, another company known for multi-million fundraises, announced in December it would shutter its Compton, California facility for leafy greens. (The company says it will continue to focus on strawberries.)
What they’re saying about 2024: Henry Gordon Smith, founder & CEO of Agritecture
“2024 was another year of reckoning for indoor agriculture and vertical farming. The industry’s long-standing reliance on venture capital collided with the harsh realities of scaling unprofitable business models, leading to another wave of high-profile closures and consolidations. While many touted “tech-first” solutions, this year underscored the limitations of over-engineered farms disconnected from the fundamentals of agricultural economics and local market realities.
“Conversely, the most significant innovations came from players who embraced pragmatism: integrating low-tech approaches like energy-efficient greenhouses with high-tech systems like AI optimization, and expanding into overlooked crops such as berries and medicinal plants.
“Greenhouses were big winners in 2024 and will continue to be while small vertical farms continue to pop up in cities across the world with modest success. One of the most paradoxical trends was the increasing investment from oil-rich nations into indoor ag. While these initiatives boosted technological adoption in arid regions, they also raised questions about sustainability metrics and long-term viability. If 2024 taught us anything, it’s that the future of indoor ag lies not in flashy tech or limitless funding but in disciplined, market-driven innovation that marries technology with necessity.”
Robotics and automation: still making inroads
Out in the field, 2024 saw much activity from startups bringing automation and robotics to farming.
The market drivers for automation haven’t changed. Attendees and panelists alike at this year’s FIRA USA show in California said labor is still the number one challenge along with growing resistance to herbicides and pesticides, changing regulatory environments and more extreme weather events.
And while we’re still a long way off from fully autonomous tractors being the norm on farms, the industry showed much interest in companies like Bluewhite and Niqo Robotics, which are retrofitting existing farm equipment with autonomous systems.
Like most other agrifoodtech sectors, startups in robotics and automation had to navigate a capital crunch in 2024. Exits remained few and far between, despite some notable fundraises from the likes of Carbon Robotics, Monarch Tractor, Burro, and others.
What they’re saying about 2024: Jorge Heraud, advisor to agtech startups and former VP of automation & autonomy at John Deere
“2024 was a year where more Ag commodities fell in price. This has driven strong interest in technologies that save on input costs such as soil sensing, variable rate and See & Spray. Additionally Robotics and AI has continued to make inroads in farms particularly in areas where savings are greatest such as with autonomous driving and automated fruit harvesting.”
Some other notable developments in 2024:
What they’re saying about 2024: Alicia Ralston, vice president of digital transformation, ADM
“It’s increasingly important to understand that the impact of simple-to-use yet powerful digital technology encompasses the entire value chain, and even the future. We launched our Gradable joint venture in 2024 because we believe the Gradable platform offers value for farmers, who utilize it to derive value from their crops, and for grain buyers and downstream customers, who benefit from reliable farm-level data as they work to meet growing consumer demand for sustainably sourced products. But it does even more than that: Technologies like Gradable, which are easy to use, protect privacy, and are accurate and powerful, are fortifying the future of agriculture by enabling practices that strengthen our food system and the resiliency of farmers and farms.”
What they’re saying: Shely Aronov, CEO and cofounder, InnerPlant
“2024 was a year of reckoning in agtech, with the biggest developments of the year driven by that dynamic. All companies, ranging from large incumbents to small start-ups, were left exposed as the industry faced macroeconomic headwinds from input and commodity price volatility to higher interest rates. This dynamic especially hurt start-ups with unsustainable business models, resulting in a wave of down rounds and bridge financings that served as a sobering reminder: Agtech, like agriculture itself, must be rooted in real-world economics and clear product-market fit.
“At the same time, I see this as a positive shift. This year’s challenges are clearing the field for top-performing companies–those with technology that drives measurable value for farmers, meaningful efficiencies in agriculture, and a clear path to profitability. The winners will be companies that align innovation with the realities of the market–delivering tools farmers can’t live without.”
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