Harnessing IT Innovation for Positive Impact in Food & Agriculture Now Rob Trice for Farm Foundation January 16, 2019
Transition from Mobile/IT/Telecom VC to “IT for Food & Ag” Better Food Ventures Confidential and not for distribution 1
Transition from Mobile/IT/Telecom VC to “IT for Food & Ag” Better Food Ventures Confidential and not for distribution 2
Mixing Bowl FOOD I.T. @ Five Years 2014 @ Stanford: “Soil to Fork” 2015 @ Stanford: “Macro to Micro” 2016 @ Computer History Museum: “Solution Harvest” 2017 @ Computer History Museum: ”Fork to Farm” 2018 @ UCSF: “The Full Stack”
The Mixing Bowl & Better Food Ventures Harnessing IT Innovation for Food & Ag Industry Challenges “Changing the World” “Feeding the World” Info-Sharing Funding Advising Connecting innovators; Innovation support and Seed funding from Better stimulating exchanges business acceleration Food Ventures Annual Silicon Valley and Advise large, food/ag and Invest in IT-driven NYC events in partnership IT partners to identify and startups transforming the with Forbes execute on external food and ag sectors innovation and corporate On-going industry development strategies Raising $50m fund thought leadership; publish MB AgTech and Partner with other FoodTech landscapes food/ag-focused funders Better Food Ventures 4
Our Team Combination of investing, M&A, and start up experience across food, agriculture, and technology Rob Trice Michael Rose Seana Day Brita Rosenheim 15 years in global 25 years in US & EU 12 years of 15 years of mobile/IT VC, 5 new venture investment, M&A investment, M&A, years in seed creation, corporate advising, tech strategy experience investing in Food & innovation, 10 years experience in US & within food, food AgTech in US restaurant EU tech verticals sector Better Food Ventures Confidential and not for distribution 5
Brita Rosenheim Tracks +2,000 companies 6
Seana Day Tracks +1,500 companies 7
Funded 14 seed deals in 4 years, 11 Stepped up to priced equity rounds (79%), Raising a $50m fund Representative Portfolio Companies: Analytical Flavor AI-driven SaaS platform used by the food and beverage industry to Systems optimize product and flavor innovation Portable allergy detection technology and device, currently gluten Nima and peanut, extendable to other proteins Adapt-N Cloud-based nitrogen application recommendation engine based on Cornell R&D. (acquired Nov 2017) Co-founded by Deepak Chopra, “internet of wellness” platform at Jiyo intersection of exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress Byte On-premise fresh food automated, refrigerated vending. Machine learning solution providing yield forecasts for specialty crops Vinsight like wine grapes and almonds Leading provider of smart LED lighting solutions for commercial Lumigrow greenhouse growers Lending operating capital to the rising number of non-owner, FarmOp Capital operator US row crop farmers underserved by existing lenders Better Food Ventures 8 Confidential and not for distribution
Our Perspectives on the Agrifoodtech Ecosystem in 2019 January 6, 2019 Better Food Ventures Confidential and not for distribution 9
1. Food is Changing Rapidly & Information Technology is a Key Driver of Change Better Food Ventures 10
Food is Changing: 2014 to 2018 Better Food Ventures Confidential and not for distribution 11
2. The Gap between “Food” & “Ag” is closing as Agrifoodtech (AFT) matures Better Food Ventures 12
Linking “Seed-to-Stomach” is how we Evolution of Farm Software Solve Problems & Unlock Market Value Digital Transformation of Agrifood is enabling: • More Precision, Productivity, Personalization, Health & Wellness • Agility to rapidly Pivot to changing consumer/market demands • Profitability: Unlocking value through new business opportunity, expanding revenue through adding value to commodities 13 Better Food Ventures
3. We have seen a fast rise in AFT-focused “Venture Support Organizations” Better Food Ventures 14
Agthentic has cataloged 155 global AFT incubators, accelerators, pitch contests, etc. Better Food Ventures 15
4. We have seen a fast rise in AFT VC funding Better Food Ventures 16
The Current State of Agrifoodtech Financing +29% YoY Better Food Ventures
Investment in Tech-driven Alternative Food Production in 2019 to meet “Future Food” Scarcity of 2050 Better Food Ventures 18
Are We Tackling the Right Food & Ag Challenges? “Feed 9b People by 2050!” Better Food Ventures 19
The Technology Adoption Curve (or Gartner Hype Cycle) 2. Peak of Inflated Expectations 5. Plateau of Productivity 4. Slope of Enlightenment 3. Trough of Disillusionment 1. Tech Trigger 20 Better Food Ventures
Precision Ag Innovation Hype Curve Needs Updating! Blockchain Vertical/Indoor Farming Farm IoT In field wireless Amazon for Inputs Traceability Platforms Soil sensors In cab displays Nano-Satellites Machine Learning Soil Sampling Yield Monitors Hyper-local weather Hyper-spectral Autosteer Prescriptions VR NDVI Uber for Tractors On Plant Sensors Satellite Imagery Scouting Apps CRISPR Farm ERP Big Data Fully Autonomous Aerial Imagery Moisture sensors Drones Water trading Dashboards Deep Learning Innovation Peak of Trough of Slope of Plateau of Trigger Inflated Disillusionment Enlightenment Productivity Expectations Originally by Ryan Rakestraw (MGV, 2016) updated Seana Day 21
Evolution of Farm Software Staircase of Food/AgTech Innovation Optimization ? e g n a h c o t t a h W ? n e p p a h t i d i d AUTOMATE y h W OPTIMIZE What happened? MANAGE Optimization Systems :, MEASURE Analytic Systems DIGITIZE ERP Systems Data Management Systems Record Keeping Systems 22 Better Food Ventures
Is There Alignment Between Start Up Activity and Need? “Food Tech” “Ag Tech” “Messy Middle of Food” $5.9B in 420 deals $3.3B in 480 deals $924M in 89 deals Upstream Midstream Downstream ~2017 Global AgriFood Investments~ $24M (5 deals) in Direct Farm2Consumer Better Food Ventures Source: Agfunder
5. Large Incumbent AFT Companies are Taking Action to Embrace External Innovation Better Food Ventures 24
Mista Foods Better Food Ventures 25
6. There are a Growing Number of AFT Conferences Better Food Ventures 26
This Week Precision Ag Vision Conference in Seattle Top Producer in Chicago Alternative Protein Event in SF Sustainable Food Summit in SF Farm Foundation in SF Fancy Food Show in SF Better Food Ventures 27
7. We see more “talkers and takers” than “do-ers and givers” in AFT Better Food Ventures 28
Enough talk about “Changing the World” Better Food Ventures 29
Thank You For more information: Rob Trice rob@betterfoodventures.com or +1 650-580-3869 Better Food Ventures Confidential and not for distribution 30
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