When the pandemic started, venture capital firms hit the brakes on new investments. But food was the one thing that everyone still needed, regardless of where they were in the world or how the pandemic and its health and economic impacts were affecting them at any point in time. Thus, a lot of money continued flowing into agrifood tech companies; the tally of agrifood venture dollars committed in the first half of 2020 nearly matched the same period in 2019.
“There was a mad rush in the beginning to redeploy capital in portfolio companies to make sure they last,” observes Ingrid Fung, a Toronto-based investment director with Finistere Ventures. “We’re seeing a little more normalization now.” READ MORE