Ekonoke Harnesses Indoor Hops Farming to Safeguard Beer Brewers’ Supply Chains
Ekonoke, a Spain‑based ag‑tech firm, is commercialising indoor vertical farms that grow hops, a climate‑vulnerable key ingredient for beer. Using Siemens‑provided equipment, the company builds brewery‑adjacent facilities and operates them under long‑term off‑take contracts, guaranteeing a steady, local supply. Its flagship pilot supplies hops to Hijos de Rivera’s Cosecha de Galicia under a 20‑year agreement, and the firm is seeking to scale to 11,000‑12,000 m² sites after validating key performance metrics. New shareholders from Japan and a planned Series B by late 2027 underline growing investor confidence.
Sixteen44 Prepares Farm Demo for Plasma-Based Methane Abatement Tech
Swiss climate‑tech startup Sixteen44 is set to run its first field demonstration of a non‑thermal plasma methane‑oxidation unit on a dairy farm in Switzerland. The low‑temperature (50‑60 °C) system converts dilute methane into CO₂ and water using high‑voltage discharges and proprietary...
AgriFood Signals: $30m for Meatpacking Tech, Rabobank Sells Foodbytes, Job Cuts at Aleph Farms
Marble Technologies announced a $30 million Series A to build AI‑driven automation for U.S. meatpacking plants, aiming to cut labor costs and boost throughput. Rabobank sold its Foodbytes platform to Dutch events firm Jaarbeurs, signaling further consolidation in agri‑tech services. Meanwhile, cultivated‑meat...
What Investors Should Know Before Backing AI Tools for Food Waste Management: Report
A new report from ReFED and The Spoon evaluates the fragmented landscape of AI tools for food‑waste measurement and reduction. It finds mature deployments in commercial kitchens and retail, where AI has cut waste by 20‑53% and saved roughly 200 million...
GERBER-RAUTH Exits Dairy Commodities to Double Down on ‘Future of Dairy’
Milan‑based private investment firm Gerber‑Rauth sold its dairy commodities broker L’Interform to Italian food‑sourcing group Atlante, exiting the commodity dairy trade. Financial terms were undisclosed, but the deal reflects Gerber‑Rauth’s strategic pivot toward advanced food technologies such as precision fermentation,...
Purdue’s DIAL Ventures Says It’s a ‘Defining Moment’ for AI in Agriculture After First Close of Fund II
Purdue‑affiliated DIAL Ventures announced the first close of its Fund II, a capital pool aimed at launching the next wave of AI‑focused agtech companies. Backed by a mix of large agricultural corporates and Nebraska‑based investor Grit Road Partners, the fund...
Apeel Founder on MAHA Misinformation, Layoffs, and a Second Act in Post-Harvest Tech
Apeel Sciences, once valued at over $2 billion with 450 employees, has shrunk to about 50 staff after two rounds of layoffs and a coordinated misinformation campaign that labeled its edible produce coatings as toxic. The campaign, driven by wellness influencers,...
AgriFood Signals: Elbit Acquires Bluewhite, More Funding for Virtual Fencing, Anheuser-Busch Awards $80k Grant
Elbit Systems has acquired Israeli AI‑robotics startup Bluewhite, deepening its push into agricultural automation. Meanwhile, Monil secured $10 million to expand its virtual‑fencing platform into the U.S. livestock market, and Anheuser‑Busch awarded an $80,000 grant to Grand Farm to accelerate farmer‑focused...
Mid-Tier Food Brands Face Toughest Test in Next Inflation Cycle, Warns Rabobank
Rabobank warns that U.S. food inflation will rise to 4‑6% year‑over‑year by the end of 2026 and stay at 3‑5% through 2027, driven by lingering supply‑side shocks from the Persian Gulf conflict affecting oil, diesel, LNG and fertilizer markets. With...
How to Sell the Next Wave of Gene-Edited Crops? Let the Little Guys Do It
Corteva’s investment arm is championing small‑ and medium‑size partners to drive the next wave of gene‑edited crops, citing the seedless blackberry from CRISPR pioneer Pairwise as a consumer‑focused example. The company stresses that farmer adoption, not just consumer appeal, is...
Guest Article: Building the Next Generation of the Global Meat Trade as a Sovereign Mandate
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, executive chairman of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), outlines a plan to build a digitized global meat ecosystem that can serve as the foundation for a broader protein trade network. The article highlights shifting geopolitics that are...
AgriFood Signals: More Microsoft Carbon Deals, a $200m Greenhouse in Mexico, Rubber From Dandelions
Microsoft announced its first major carbon‑removal purchase since pausing, marking a renewed corporate climate push. Dutch investors are committing $200 million to build a large greenhouse complex in northern Mexico to boost year‑round vegetable production. European agri‑tech firms secured sizable financing:...
Exclusive: Triple Bio Emerges From Stealth with Lipid Tech Designed to Boost Milk Yields and Curb Methane
Netherlands‑based Triple Bio has emerged from stealth after raising $1.7 million to launch RumeNRG, a lipid‑based feed‑additive platform aimed at both cutting enteric methane and boosting dairy productivity. The platform includes RumeNRG‑PL, which encapsulates existing methane inhibitors to achieve up to...
The Cracks in Chemical Farming Are Getting Hard to Ignore. These Startups Are Providing Alternatives
Investors and regulators are increasingly questioning the sustainability of chemical‑intensive farming as costs rise and health concerns mount. Startups such as Verdant Robotics and Inari are deploying AI‑driven precision robotics and gene‑editing platforms to slash input usage while maintaining yields....
GrainFlow Targets Grain Elevator Gridlock with AI Scheduling System
GrainFlow, a Vancouver‑based AI startup, is addressing chronic truck‑queue bottlenecks at Western Canadian grain elevators with a computer‑vision queue‑visibility system and an online appointment‑booking scheduler. The platform counts trucks, forecasts wait times, and automatically suggests rescheduling to spread arrivals, aiming...