Agtech Action | Week of 02.18.23 - 02.24.23
Agtech Action is a weekly newsletter highlighting current events in the world of agtech, and some light-hearted commentary
Grocery stores are downsizing, an SAF-focused venture fund is launched, and the emergence of agrovoltaics. Brazil halts beef exports to China, restaurant subscriptions and another cybersecurity attack takes down an ag producer.
Value chain is the theme of the agtech week. As an agtech innovator, it is important to know where you lie on the value chain. This is important for many reasons, which include who you serve, how you serve, what you serve and more. We outline a value chain exercise that you can do as an innovator; and we tease a few big announcements next week in the latest edition of Agtech Action.
Food and the World:
USDA reports a slight drop in the number of U.S. farms, farm acreage
How Do Grain Cancellations Work?
Walmart projects slower sales growth (0:00 mark); reported a strong holiday shopping season
Grocery stores may be downsizing (0:40 mark); higher real estate prices & tight labor market
Airline industry getting greener (1:00 mark); venture capital fund for sustainable aviation fuel
10 Nutrition Myths Experts Wish Would Die
Decrease in US cattle could mean you pay more for beef: Report
USDA proposes rule change to allow online WIC food purchases
Supreme Court May Soon Announce Prop 12 Decision; Here's Why All Producers Should Care
Cyberattack on food giant Dole temporarily shuts down North America production, company memo says (happened a few weeks ago)
FDA issues draft for labeling of plant-based ‘milk’ (0:00 mark)
Ukraine Grain Shipments Slow as Export Deal With Russia Nears End
Kenya: Acute Malnutrition Situation February 2023 and Projection for March - May 2023
India Guards Wheat Crop After Extreme Heat Scorched Fields Last Year
Brazil to halt beef exports to China after mad cow disease case
USDA: More Planted Acres, Lower Farm Income In 2023
Agave plants aren’t tolerating weather extremes well (0:40 mark); from extreme drought to deluges
Restaurant subscriptions (1:00 mark); Panera and PF Chang’s are experimenting with this model
United Airlines Taps Corn to Bring Ethanol-Based Jet Fuel to Market
California fruit growers relieved by projected increase to water allocation
Farm Bill Should Broaden Climate Mitigation, Land Stewardship, says FACA
India to offer 2 mln T more wheat to cool prices
Mortgage applications at lowest in 28 years (0:40 mark); home sales fell for 12th straight month
Agtech in the News:
Pure Flavor Furthers Growth with Acquisition of Cervini Farms
Agrivoltaics: The Intersection of Farming and Energy Generation
For the First Time, Genetically Modified Trees Have Been Planted in a U.S. Forest
Soli Organic Appoints Jeff Jackson as Chief Infrastructure Officer
Calysta’s FeedKind® Achieves FDA GRAS Status for Sustainable Aquaculture
Across The Country, A Big Backlash to New Renewables Is Mounting
Skagit Horticulture Unveils Its eCommerce Platform
AgriTech Companies Represented in French Tech Next 40/120
Brazil Supreme Court rules Bayer must return $252 million in GMO soy royalties
Carbon removal fuels new hope, old concerns in war on warming
A.R.I. Launches Venture Debt Fund for Qualified Clients
Can Algae Farming Provide Solutions From Food & Fuel to Cosmetics & Pharmaceuticals?
Soylent acquired by Starco Brands
Instacart’s new tools to help independent grocers, along with big retailers
FeedKind® Protein Wins FDA GRAS Status for Use in Aquaculture
Let Them Wear Dirt: Penmai Chongtoua Turns Soil into Textiles
How one Mass. farm is transforming waste into energy
Sabanto Establishes Dealer Network for Tractor Autonomy Systems
Fun:
200 Nebraska Farmers Remain Silent During Auction so a Young Man Can Buy Back His Family Farm
Helpful Resources:
Q1 2023: PitchBook Analyst Note: Capital Concentration and Its Effect on the VC Ecosystem
2022 Annual: Global Private Market Fundraising Report
Q4 2022: Carbon & Emissions Tech Report
Interesting Reads:
Generative AI holds promise and peril for private market investors
Market Map: Investors cultivate what's next in agriculture
Flip retained ownership on its tail.
American ‘genocide’: Monetizing the great reset
Biden wants to build a green future. Where are the workers?
Junk Food Is Bad for You. Is It Bad for Raccoons?
After Chemical Burn, Farm Owners Worry About a Cherished Way of Life
AXIAN Expands Its Support for African Businesses and Innovation With New Investment Unit
Morocco venture capital fund eyes more tech investments in Israel: CEO
VC Sarah Guo buys AI startups, but not the hype
Funding raised by startups in Northern Africa in 2022
Why Does Chocolate Taste So Good? A Scientist Unwraps the Volatile Chemistry
5 Reasons to be Bullish on Cattle
Carbon Emissions Data for Investors: Closing the Reporting Gap and Future-Proofing Estimations
Indonesia's eFishery to increase focus on U.S. in exports push
An Ancient Grain Made New Again: How Sorghum Could Help U.S. Farms Adapt to Climate Change
20% of carbon emissions from the food creation chain come from shipping
Kayco and Bowery Partner to Bring Kosher Greens to North America
Chinese Startup Turns Leftover Hot Pot Oil into Jet Fuel
Branstad Says Bans on Chinese Investments Must Balance Security and Economic Opportunity
What Has Putin Gained After One Year of War In Ukraine?
6 Ways to Protect Agtech From Cybersecurity Threats
Finance:
New NY Outcomes Fund pays farmers to adopt sustainable practices
Loliware scores $15.4M to replace single-use plastics with seaweed-based materials
Secondaries give LACERA the opportunity to deploy at scale in farmland
Ceres taps Manulife exec for PE expansion
Cibus Capital acquires Alba Trees as part of natural capital strategy
P2 Science Secures Funding to Expand Product Citropol®
Carbon Maps Banks a 4M Euro Funding to Launch Its Platform
Private capital’s aim to fill the agriculture skills gap itself
CEFC and Grok Ventures join A$105M Series B for Loam Bio
Minnesota SBI mulls $150M commitment to Paine Schwartz Fund VI
GrainChain Closes On $29M For U.S. And LATAM Expansion
Elo Life Systems Closed A $24.5M Series A for Molecular Farmed Monk Fruit Sweeteners
Robigo Gains $6.85M to Protect Crops from The Untreatable
Brazil Supreme Court rules Bayer must return $252 million in GMO soy royalties
Moleaer Reports on Trial Results With Nanobubbles Used By Strawberry Growers
Missouri Technology Corporation Announced a $2M Investment In 8 Companies Including AgTech Startups
Theme of the Agtech Week: Value Chain
A great way to figure out if you are doing something right or wrong is to figure out where you are. As agtech innovators, that exercise is determining where you land on the value chain. Value chain is the theme of the agtech week. Let’s start with the where you are on the value chain exercise. The where is important because it allows you as an innovator to identify many things, including: 1) who do you serve, 2) who do you not serve, 3) who can and cannot affect you (e.g. who is to your immediate left and right on the value chain among others. To avoid sounding esoteric, let me give you a concrete example: say you are a fertilizer agtech startup. That places you closer to the left of the value chain, or closer to the input side. To answer the earlier question: 1) who do you serve: farmers or distributors; 2) who do you not serve: the average customer (unless you are B2C); and 3) who can and cannot affect you: mineral companies, mines and governments can affect you and stakeholders further down the value chain likely cannot affect you.
Peeling back the onion more, what about the who you serve question? Using the same fertilizer example, who you serve is just as revealing as the where you serve because they are interdependent. Who you serve tells you key information: your market positioning, your customers, your competition and your business model. If you are a fertilizer startup and you are serving farmers, that requires a particular business model, and market positioning, to differentiate yourself from competition (e.g. other startups, or large strategic encumbents). It is also a good exercise to know who you serve because if you branding yourself incorrectly, say you are saying you serve X customers when in fact you serve Y, then you have business and market misalignment. And that sends wrong signals to your customer base, strategic partners, and most importantly your internal team. Internal misalignment can lead to external misalignment.
Try this exercise when you are launching a new product, service, business line or making a strategic decision. Carefully map out the who, where, what so you know who you serve, where you serve and what you serve. Or the competition will do it for you and it won’t serve you.
Next week we have a couple of big announcements on some key initiatives at The Yield Lab Institute, one regarding an important continent for food and ag and the other on the Soy Innovation Challenge. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest in food and agriculture technology and news.
Thanks for reading.
BD
Brandon Day is the Chief Operating Officer of The Yield Lab Institute, the global agtech think-tank, non-profit arm of The Yield Lab global network of venture capital funds and accelerator programs. The views, opinions and commentary expressed are solely those of Brandon Day.