Final yr, our evaluation of Crunchbase information reveals 736 AgTech startups raised a complete of $5.7B, writes market professional Kyle Welborn at CropLife. This represents a flat stage of funding and a small lower in offers from 2023. There have been 37 AgTech exits final yr, 36 M&A transactions and one IPO. That is up 32% from the 28 AgTech exits from 2023.
Key Takeaways from Final 12 months
In 2024, startup funding mirrored the earlier yr, with $314B raised globally throughout industries — a 3% enhance from 2023. AgTech made up 1.82% of whole enterprise capital funding. In comparison with 2023, robotics startups noticed a $135M funding enhance, whereas funding for crops and genetics startups grew by $280M in 2024. Nonetheless, local weather monitoring and farmer credit score startups raised $300M much less, and funding for managed atmosphere agriculture dropped by $125M in comparison with 2023.
AgTech exits started to rebound in contrast with 2023. Information from Pitchbook and the Nationwide Enterprise Capital Affiliation depend 3,083 enterprise backed exits final yr. Meaning AgTech associated offers accounted for 1.2% of all exits in 2024. There have been 34 distinctive teams that acquired an AgTech startup final yr, of which 47% of these acquirers had been startups and early-stage corporations, 44% had been extra mature or established corporations, and 9% had been funding companies and holding corporations. Startup-to-startup acquisitions are sometimes stock-based, so round 19 M&A transactions final yr doubtless concerned money that went again to founders and buyers.
AgTech Enterprise Investments
Beneath is a breakout of the offers and {dollars} that flowed to completely different sectors of AgTech final yr:
