Innovation in agrifood life sciences is the need of the hour. The fledgling ecosystem needs to be revitalised with talent and capital, Mark Kahn, managing partner and cofounder, Omnivore, writes
Less than a decade ago, channeling capital into India’s now-thriving agritech sector was a Herculean task. Before the ubiquity of mobile data and smartphones across rural India, venture capital (VC) investors focussed on urban themes, including ecommerce, e-grocery, and restaurant delivery. Around 2016, when these categories consolidated around a few unicorns, mainstream VC investors began exploring B2B themes and agritech popped onto their radar, which is appropriate given that around 25 percent of India’s economy is agriculture and agribusiness. As of 2022, India has the third-largest startup ecosystem globally and ranks third after the US and China in agritech funding. However, agrifood life sciences (AFLS) as a sub-sector of agritech is yet to experience the same boom in entrepreneurship and funding.
We think about agrifood life sciences as including four broad categories: Agricultural biotechnology, novel farming systems, bioenergy and biomaterials, and innovative foods. Agricultural biotechnology includes on-farm inputs for crop and animal agriculture, including hybrid seed breeding, genetics, microbials, and animal health. Novel farming systems include controlled environment agriculture (CEA), RAS aquaculture, insect protein, and algae production. Bioenergy and biomaterials include agri waste processing, biomaterials production, and feedstock technology. Finally, innovative foods refer to various forms of alternative proteins (plant-based, fermented, and cellular), as well as functional foods and other novel ingredients.
(This story appears in the 09 September, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)