By Lynda Kiernan Hewitt Cattle Australia, a joint partner of Canadian pension fund – Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), has listed its Mt. Cooper aggregation in Northern Queensland for sale. After many years of operating in the region, Hewitt’s decision to sell was made in deference to its expanded focus on regions targeting […]
By Lynda Kiernan Alterra Limited, an Australian agricultural investor, developer, and manager focused on regenerative land development, announced it has agreed to sell 913-hectares (2,256-acres) of its Dambadgee Springs property to a local farmer for A$3.1 million (US$2 million). The company acquired Dambadgee Springs, which in-total encompasses 1,640 hectares (4,052.5 acres), in March 2017 for […]
By Lynda Kiernan Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley Inc., the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motor Co., has announced investments in two different agtech startups within a week’s time. Strella Biotechnology On May 4 it was announced that Yamaha Motor Ventures co-led an oversubscribed $3.3 million Seed round for Pennsylvania-based […]
By Guy Sela, VP of Agronomy, CropX Farming has been under extreme economic and environmental pressures for years. However, the current COVID-19 crisis has turned an even brighter spotlight on the importance of effective farm management systems for the long-term security of both our ag industry and our global food security, as recent technology advances […]
By Lynda Kiernan Ambienta, the largest sustainability-focused private equity investor in Europe, continues to build out its natural flavors and ingredients platform Nactarome Group with the acquisition of UK-based Create Flavours. Nactarome Group was created as a buy-to-build project with the target of becoming a leading provider of healthy food ingredients to small and mid-sized […]
By Aaron Magenheim, CEO & Co-Founder of AgTech Insight & Growers Insight “Farm Management” has turned into a buzzword many people use broadly yet don’t really understand the importance of and details surrounding it – especially in our rapidly changing world. As CEO and co-founder of AgTech Insight, a global advisory and implementation firm specializing […]
By Lynda Kiernan Las Vegas-based agtech startup Cultiva announced it has secured a $2.94 million investment from Advantage Capital to drive expansion and growth at a time when COVID-19 poses a significant challenge. Founded in 2011, Cultiva’s proprietary technology focuses on what is called the plant cuticle of high value crops. Only 10 microns thick, […]
By Lynda Kiernan Real estate investment trust (REIT) Gladstone Land announced it has closed on a $3.5 million irrigated farmland deal in Chase County, Nebraska. The 648-acre, mixed-crop operation currently grows a rotation of potatoes, edible beans, and corn with good access to water via on-site wells. “About half of the acreage on this farm will […]
By Lynda Kiernan The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has made its first direct investment in the private sector, allocating $9 million to Bamboo Capital’s Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund. The ABC Fund was launched at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) annual Governing Council in Rome in February 2019 as a blended-finance impact […]
By Lynda Kiernan California-based Plantible Foods has raised $4.6 million in Seed funding through a round co-led by Hong-Kong-based Vectr Ventures and New York-based Lerer Hippeau. Additional investors participating in the round included FTW Ventures, and eighteen94 Capital, the venture arm of Kellogg’s. Only two years old, Plantible is developing what it calls the “next […]
By Lynda Kiernan Prior to COVID-19 becoming our new reality, food waste was already a serious issue. At a time when one in seven Americans is food insecure, 52 million tons of food ends in a landfill, not counting another 10 million tons of food that is left in fields discarded or unharvested each year. […]
By Lynda Kiernan Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Temasek have co-led a $100 million Series C for Pivot Bio – an agtech startup dedicated to developing more sustainable, effective, and safer replacements for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Another significant contributor to the round was return investor DCVC, who led the company’s Series A and Series B rounds. […]
