agtech

Insectta has developed technology that can extract chitosan from insect waste, an antimicrobial ingredient used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

The UAE capital will deploy $270m by 2021 as part of a strategic agtech program that has the end-goal of turning the city into a regional and global exporting hub of food tech innovation.

The first $10m tranche of the investment forms the bulk of Pure Harvest’s $20.6m Series A, with access to the rest of the outlay dependent on expansion targets being met.

US-based vertical farmer AeroFarms will build what is claimed to be the largest vertical farming R&D center of its kind in Abu Dhabi, while UAE-based vertical farmer Madar Farms will build an indoor tomato farm through the investment.

BlueNalu CEO Lou Cooperhouse expects to see a boom in cellular agriculture investment as soon as FDA regulation is established, which he expects to be put in place in 2021.

Despite a small drop in overall venture capital investment into agriculture and food technology startups, market segments such as alternative protein and regions such as Europe and LatAm registered strong fundraising performance.

CEO Michael Gilbert said the agtech firm's profit-making status puts it in a position to acquire companies that will 'close the loop on risk mitigation and decision-making.'

Equinom founder and CEO Gil Shalev says the firm’s naturally-bred yellow peas will have as much as 50% protein content.

Cofounder Steven Dring says the start-up expects to reach its target 'pretty soon' and is working on building out a new cohort of hydroponic farms with partners.

A market source says family offices are likely to be the source for much of the capital raised for the St Louis-headquartered firm's AgriFood Fund II.