fbtechreview.comDECEMBER - 20208in myviewLOOKING AHEAD IN FOODTECH INVESTMENT BY ARAMA KUKUTAI, CO-FOUNDER AND PARTNER, FINISTERE VENTURES, AND INGRID FUNG, INVESTMENT DIRECTOR, FINISTERE VENTURESSince Finistere Ventures made our first investment in 2006, the Agri Food technology landscape has grown exponentially. Over the last decade, consumer demands for convenient access to healthier, more sustainably and ethically produced food drovean explosion of investment into FoodTec has investors, corporates, and start-ups hustled to meet these new demands. Consumer preferences will continue to evolve,creating the emergence of a new wave offood companies focused around sustainability, impact, and consumer convenience. Despite COVID-19, growth in the FoodTech sector has been remarkably resilient. Here we unpack some of the investment trends and tailwinds that have unpinned the spectacular growth we have seen over the last year. Continued Growth Despite, or Because of COVID?Since 2010, AgriFood tech investment has grown at a rate of 45.9 percent year on year, to a total of $9.7B in 2019.We are already on our way to a record year for AgriFood investment, with FoodTech investment totaling $7B in H1 of 2020, in comparison, H1 2019 saw only $4.8B deployed into the sector. The FoodTech sector continues to show strong growth in investment, furthermore tailwinds brought on by COVID, in particular a return to dining at home, have resulted in an acceleration of capital deployment in 2020. Over the last decade, FoodTech has seen a rush of investments driven byblitzscaling (the deployment of capital to take advantage of growth brought on by network effects). Investors are enabling this dynamic with the best in class companies, leading to more mega rounds (financings of $100M+) closed in in H1 2020 than ever before, including those of Rappi ($1B), DoorDash ($700M), and Impossible Foods ($300M). As a result, 2020 will certainly be another record investment year for the FoodTech sector. While FoodTech has experienced a growth in capital deployment, subsectors within the segment have seen winners and losers due toCOVID. Companies focused on foodservice have been challenged by lockdowns and inconsistent customer incomes. However,start-ups focused around MealKit solutions and E-commerce grocery are benefiting in revenue growth brought on the move to dining at home. Together, these
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