$500m pumped into Australia's agrifoodtech sector in 2021
Investors tipped more than half a billion dollars into Australian startups last year, according to the inaugural Asia-Pacific AgriFoodTech Investment Report 2022. Launched in Singapore on 25 October, the report by AgFunder in partnership with AgriFutures growAG. and evokeAG. also shows a bright future for the sector.
Of the 55 deals involving Australian startups in 2021 (totalling AU$565.5m), the three biggest investment deals included: Melbourne-based mobile ordering and payments platform Mr Yum, which raised $100m, followed by V2 Foods ($83m) and cloud kitchen startup EatClub ($63m).
AgriFutures Australia Senior Manager growAG Arianna Sippel, who attended the launch, said the report demonstrated the growing maturity of the sector in Australia.
“The investment deals we’ve seen in 2021 spanned everything from e-grocery and in-store retail tech to farm management software and sensing so it shows the diversity of commercial opportunities in Australia,” Sippel said.
“AgriFutures Australia is excited about the growth of investment in Australian agrifood tech and is focused on helping increase investment and collaboration through the grow AG. platform and evokeAG. program.
“grow AG. makes it easier than ever for startups to list their commercial opportunities and to forge connections across the Australian agritech ecosystem, from researchers and producers to investors and entrepreneurs.”
The platform, which was launched in April 2021, has more than 80,000 users, a third of which are based overseas, and has listed more than 160 commercial opportunities and 2700 research projects.
One of the featured startups in the report, Brisbane-based farm robotics company Lyro, connected with Artesian Ventures via growAG. Lyro reported that the connection helped lead to an investment deal with the VC. It has since raised a further $US1.5m in a pre-Series A round to deliver 20 autonomous robotic packers to its agri-focused clients.
The report also indicates the outlook for agrifood tech is bright, despite the deteriorating global economic climate.
Investment in Asia-Pacific agrifood tech startups set a new record in 2021 reaching $US15.2bn, with this positive trajectory poised to continue.
While China has experienced a significant pullback in startup funding, the rest of the Asia-Pacific region has recorded a 15% year-on-year increase in the first half of 2022, bucking a global trend.
Farm tech is also maturing with funding in the region reaching $US2.2bn in 2021, double the level of 2020, driven by some large, later stage deals as well as a 17.5% uptick in the number of deals year-on-year.
Michael Dean, AgFunder founding partner and Asia-Pacific head, said: “Early on we saw the potential of the region, with its booming population growth and emerging centres of technology innovation, as a destination for agrifood tech venture investment. We established our GROW Accelerator and Singapore-based venture impact funds to assist institutional and
corporate investors in the region to access the disruptive technologies that have the potential to drive efficiencies, profitability and sustainability for decades to come.”
To explore the latest agrifood innovations and commercial opportunities in Australia head to growag.com or connect in person at evokeAG. 2023, which will be held in Adelaide from 21–22 February 2023.
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