Q2 2023 AgTech Venture Capital Investment and Exit Round Up
Last quarter, our analysis of Crunchbase data shows 249 AgTech startups raised a total of $1.6B, writes Kyle Welborn at CropLife. This represents a 14% increase in funding and a 19% increase in deals from Q1 2023. There were seven AgTech exits last quarter, all through M&A transactions.
Key Takeaways from Last Quarter
The number of AgTech startups that have raised venture capital has grown now for three straight quarters, while the average round size has fallen for three straight quarters. The net result is more AgTech startups are getting funded, albeit with reduced amounts. With half of 2023 complete, 459 AgTech startups have raised $3B in capital. This indicates that 2023 is on track to be approximately half the size of 2021 in terms of total investment.
Exit activity for AgTech startups has maintained a similar pace to the previous year, with 17 transactions announced in the first half of 2023 compared to 18 last year. This contrasts with the general trend observed in global M&A activity, where the pace has significantly slowed compared to 2022. However, considering persistently high inflation and a 17% decline in corn prices so far this year, it will be interesting to observe whether these macroeconomic trends will impact AgTech M&A activity in the second half of 2023.
AgTech Venture Investments
Below is a breakout of the deals and dollars that flowed to different sectors of AgTech last quarter:
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The biggest increase in total investment dollars quarter-over-quarter was in the alternative protein sector where companies raised $322M more than they did in Q1 2023. The largest category drop in total investment dollars was in the food waste sector where companies raised $202M less than in Q1 2023. The average AgTech investment round last quarter shrunk to $6.45M, down from $6.68M in Q1 2023.
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