The Agtech Unicorn Index, which tracks venture-backed startups in the sector worth over $1 billion, recorded a 20% decline in 2023, according to the Morningstar Unicorn Market Monitor Q4 2023 update.
Advertisement"There are more software companies that have sprouted over the past decade, but it traditionally requires fairly technical knowledge about plants and biology."
London’s vertical farming unicorn InFarm also struggled and shuttered in Europe .
Indeed, PitchBook’s Frederick anticipates agtech will outperform the broader VC ecosystem in the near term due to issues around food security, per PitchBook’s Agtech Q4 2023 report.
More broadly, the number of companies hitting unicorn status was at its lowest level since 2017, with 81 new unicorns entering the Morningstar PitchBook Global Unicorn Index in 2023.
Persons:
—, Alex Frederick, Frederick, Po Bronson, Bronson, PitchBook’s Frederick, agtech, ” Frederick
Organizations:
Service, Business, Morningstar, US, Farmers Business Network
Locations:
cybersecurity, Europe, Ukraine, India, California, Spain