Monday, 29 July 2024

Indoor farming faces funding drought

Space tech and biotech lead a big week of big money

July 29, 2024

Hi, Agen. As venture capital wagers go, indoor farming has not done especially well. While investors have plowed almost $6 billion into startups in the space in recent years, funding has mostly dried up. Plus, all 10 of last week’s top funding deals hit nine figures with spacetech startup Astranis taking the lead. And with the Paris Olympic Games underway, we took a look at how funding to startups in the country is faring.

🍅 Indoor farming sector experiencing growing pains

With few exceptions, indoor farming has not done especially well in raising venture capital lately. But that hasn’t stopped South San Francisco-based Plenty who has been busy planting seeds in a joint venture to build a network of indoor farms in the Middle East.

Related Crunchbase Pro list: Indoor- And Vertical-Farming-Related Funded Companies

🇫🇷 Paris is France’s startup champion

In a typical year, Parisian upstarts raise billions in venture funding, usually pulling in the majority of French venture investment. So far, this Olympic year is off to a good start, with AI, cleantech and enterprise software among the sectors drawing big rounds.

Related Crunchbase Pro list: French Startup Funding

🏆 The week’s 10 biggest funding rounds

Astranis and Third Arc Bio led a big week of large rounds. All 10 rounds hit $100 million or more, this time with space tech and biotech leading the way. Once again, money was spread around to various sectors — even agtech, which has not seen many megadeals this year.

See also: The Crunchbase Megadeals Board

💸 Fintech’s funding in Q2 a reminder it’s not 2021 anymore

As one of the sectors that raised the most in the peak market of 2021, fintech has since declined at a greater rate than overall global funding. Nonetheless it still counts as the sector with the largest number of private companies valued over $1 billion and with an expectation that some well-branded fintechs could plan to list — or merge — in the next year or so.

Related Crunchbase Pro Lists:
Funding to Financial Services Companies in 2024
Fintech Unicorns

⬇️ Texas startup funding falls

Funding to Lone Star State startups in 2024 is on track to decline year over year, even as overall U.S. venture funding has been perking up. But there’s room for optimism that higher investment lies ahead along with the possibility companies may move their headquarters to Texas — particularly the case for those associated with Elon Musk.

Related Crunchbase Pro lists:
Texas Startup Funding
Austin And Surrounding Cities Startup Funding

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