European Agri-Food Tech start-ups received $3.4 billion in investment in 2019, across a total of 419 investment deals. This represents an increase of 70% compared to the previous year, according to research conducted in partnership with F&A Next.

While the effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic led to a drop in investments between January and March 2020, the report also highlights how much the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent decisions have changed the food industry and user behavior. The fact that Deliveroo, the restaurant marketplace and order distributor, received $575 million in Series G investment shows how the food chain ecosystem is becoming a focus in the UK post-Covid-19. Following the Deliveroo impact, total investment in the UK for food sector startups that "serve close to the end consumer" increased by 110% year-on-year to $2.1 billion.

Longer-term positioning startups in supply chain management and manufacturing received $1.1 billion, up 22% on a year ago.

In the last two years, VCs have invested $4 billion in agtech. While agriculture used to be a non-tech-driven industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the value of the food supply chain, with empty shelves and stockpiling behaviors.

While farmers used to be resistant to technology and change, today they are more likely to buy into any product or technology that increases their return on investment. With big food companies like Tyson Foods bringing in the likes of Dean Banks from Incubator X, the R&D arm of Alphabet Inc, digital transformation in agriculture is taking center stage.

Farmers Business Network raised $250 million in a Series F investment round in August 2020. Berkeley-based Pivot Bio raised $100 million in April 2020 from Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Temasek to deepen its microbial nitrogen technology. Biodesign startup Geltor received $91.3 million from CPT Capital in a Series B round in July 2020 to produce proteins such as collagen and elastin from non-animal sources. iFarm says its aim is to transform the food supply chain as investment companies such as iFarm continue to invest in regions such as Eastern and Northern Europe and the Middle East to grow crops such as strawberries, tomatoes and peppers using the iFarm Growtune technology platform. Companies such as Unfold, a start-up working on indoor vertical farming technologies, and Leaps by Bayer and Temasek, among others, are also investing in the iFarm Growtune technology platform to grow crops such as strawberries, tomatoes and peppers.