Investments in ag tech doubled in 2015

There were $4.6 billion worth of investments last year

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Farm income and general profits may have been down in 2015, but investments into agricultural technology startups were up by a record pace.

“There’s definitely been a downturn in the broader market, but ultimately the direction of agriculture is going towards a more technology driven future,” said AgFunder CEO Rob Leclerc in an interview with Reuters.

According to a report by AgFunder, in 2015 ag tech startups saw a total of $4.6 billion worth of investments – up from $2.36 billion in 2014.

When it comes to precision ag, there were 96 deals, totalling $661 million worth of investments.

Some 49 per cent of the investments were placed in drones, while 27 per cent of the investments were placed in satellites and imagery.

Soil crop technology saw 35 deals in 2015 for a total of $168 million worth of investments.

Food and E-Commerce had 137 deals in 2015 for a total of $1.65 billion worth of investments.

As far as investment destinations, where the money is being invested, the flavor is heavily European with some North American influences.

The top 10 investment destinations were:

1. United Sates
2. India
3. Canada
4. United Kingdom
5. Israel
6. France
7. Germany
8. China
9. Netherlands
10. Switzerland