The agriculture industry impacts communities and sectors across the globe. These agricultural startups are reimagining every step of the agricultural supply chain from deploying machine learning to innovate traditional farming methods to sustainable solutions for urban farms.
If you’re looking to explore the companies making waves in agriculture, you’re in the right place. These are the top agriculture startups to watch this year.
Best Agriculture Startups to Follow
Every year, new startups pull to the forefront of their industry through exciting innovation and industry-disrupting business models. We’ve rounded up the top agriculture startups of 2024 that startup-lovers, investors, and aspiring entrepreneurs should follow.
Disclaimer: With so many exciting startups launching and growing worldwide, we aren’t able to cover them all. Furthermore, the startups that are listed below are not officially ranked and are listed in no particular order.
1. Lithos Carbon
- Location: Seattle, Washington
- Founders: Mary Yap, Dr. Noah Planavsky, Dr. Chris Reinhard
- Founded In: 2022
- Funding: Seed, $6.3 Million
- Investors Include: Greylock, Union Square Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures
Lithos Carbon is an agtech startup providing sustainable solutions for farming. The startup works to remove carbon from the atmosphere by converting farmland into carbon capture centers to provide more sustainable agriculture, better soil conditions, and improved crop yield.
2. Farmspeak Technology
- Location: Lagos, Nigeria
- Founders: Adaeze Akpagbula, Israel Alabi, James Akomu, Peter Okonmah
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Non-Equity Assistance, $100,000
- Investors Include: Sais, USAID
The agricultural industry is being revolutionized by startups that are automating the farming process. Farmspeak Technology is an agricultural technology startup that allows farmers to monitor their crops from their smartphones easily. Additionally, their Penkeep device monitors things like temperature and air quality in livestock pens, integrating seamlessly with the app so farmers can have a bird’s-eye view of their land in the palm of their hand.
3. AeroFarms
- Location: Newark, New Jersey
- Founders: David Rosenberg, Ed Harwood, Marc Oshima
- Founded In: 2004
- Funding: Undisclosed, $308.8 Million
- Investors Include: MissionPoint Capital Partners, GSR Ventures, Meraas
AeroFarms is a Certified B Corporation reshaping food production and taking on climate change through vertical farming. The startup’s technology boasts 95% less water usage and zero chemical pesticides to deliver quality, sustainable produce year-round.
4. CarbonMaps
- Location: Lille, France
- Founders: Estelle Huynh, Jeremie Wainstain, Patrick Asdaghi
- Founded In: 2022
- Funding: Seed, $7.6 Million
- Investors Include: Daphni, Breega, Samaipata
CarbonMaps is the first environmental accounting platform for the food industry, helping the agricultural industry fight climate change. With solutions for food producers, food brands, retailers, and food service establishments, CarbonMaps leverages the power of data science to assist farmers and food companies in developing more sustainable business models.
5. Oishii
- Location: Kearny, New Jersey
- Founders: Hiroki Koga, Brendan Somerville
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Series A, $50 Million
- Investors Include: Sony Innovation Fund, PKSHA Technology
Oishii is an innovative agtech startup that leads the vertical farming revolution with its advanced technology. The startup is disrupting traditional agriculture by growing premium quality strawberries indoors all year round using state-of-the-art hydroponics and carefully controlled environments. Oishii’s approach ensures pesticide-free and flavorful berries, setting new standards for sustainable agriculture.
6. Mootral
- Location: Abertillery, United Kingdom
- Founders: Chris Kantrowitz, Isabelle Botticelli, Thomas Hafner
- Founded In: 2018
- Funding: Series A, $24 Million
- Investors Include: Spacecadet Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital
Agriculture startup Mootral is aiming to make keeping livestock a more sustainable practice. Their main feed technology, Mootral Ruminant, is a livestock feed supplement that reduces greenhouse gasses (like methane) from cattle. This is just one company that’s on a mission to cut methane emissions one cow at a time.
7. Apollo Agriculture
- Location: Nairobi, Kenya
- Founders: Benjamin Njenga, Earl St Sauver, Eli Pollakeritu
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Venture, $68.6 Million
- Investors Include: SoftBank Vision Fund, Bossanova Investimentos, Breyer Capital
Apollo Agriculture offers advisory services for small-scale farmers to help them build stronger businesses and fight food insecurity. The startup provides access to products such as seeds and fertilizer, insurance, financing, and training to improve crop yields. This is done through machine learning and remote sensing to offer a custom package of farming solutions tailored to each individual agricultural business.
8. Field Better (Agricycle Global)
- Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Founders: Claire Friona, Daniel Bell, Jacob Foss, Jen Kuhn, Joshua Shefner, Patrick Nderitu
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Seed, $4.3 Million
- Investors Include: Connetic Ventures, BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation
Field Better’s mission is to eradicate extreme poverty around the world. They do this through a robust, member-driven value chain. Their technologies include everything from food dehydrators to benefit programs for members, making this one agricultural startup that’s putting their money directly into the hands of the people they want to impact.
9. Toopi Organics
- Location: France
- Founders: Michael Roes
- Founded In: 2019
- Funding: Grant, €23.2 Million
- Investors Include: Ademe, MakeSense, Bpifrance
Alright, stay with us here for this one. Toopi Organics is an agriculture company that takes existing supplies in order to create a more sustainable industry. Located in France, the company recycles and enriches human excrement (specifically urine) to provide farmers everywhere with a chemical-free alternative to fertilizer.
10. Augmenta (Acquired by CNH Industrial)
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Founders: Dimitri Evangelopoulos, George Varvarelis
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Series A, $11.2 Million
- Investors Include: Marathon Venture Capital, CNH Industrial
Augmenta is an agtech startup that’s designed to fertilize farm fields everywhere accurately. Their “Field Analyzer” device connects to field equipment in order to control the amount of time and fertilizer crops should get. Farmers are able to track progress on their smart device with Augmenta’s intuitive dashboard.
11. AgriLedger
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Founders: Genevieve Leveille
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: N/A
- Investors Include: SproutX
AgriLedger is looking to tackle the agriculture industry at the supply-chain level. Their ultimate goal is to utilize technology to change agriculture for the better, and they do this through transparent reporting. Their database is accessible to everyone, from shareholders to the farmers themselves, so if anything is ever recalled, all parties involved are able to pinpoint the place where things went wrong in order to prevent it from happening again.
12. Ninjacart
- Location: Bangalore, India
- Founders: Ashutosh Vikram, Kartheeswaran K K, Sharath Loganathan, Thiru Nagarajan, Thirukumaran Nagarajan, Vasu Devan
- Founded In: 2015
- Funding: Series D, $357.6 Million
- Investors Include: Accel, Mainstreet Digital, STIC Investment
Ninjacart exists to create a more sustainable supply chain. Currently, they’re able to move around 60 tons of produce each day, drastically cutting down on food waste. Not only that, but they directly connect farmers to retailers, restaurants, and more through their app in order to get their products on shelves faster.
13. Crofarm
- Location: Gurgaon, India
- Founders: Prashant Jain, Varun Khurana
- Founded In: 2016
- Funding: Series B, $29.3 Million
- Investors Include: Smile Group and Factor[e] Ventures, India Accelerator
Crofarm is a farm-to-business startup that generates its revenue mainly through commissions. With over 10,000 farmers in their network, Crofarm works to gather products that they can then sell to local farms and businesses (the closer, the better) in order to keep up a product’s longevity. Their zero-waste practices also make them a sustainable company that’s looking toward the future.
Final Thoughts
Every year, agriculture startups launch to solve pain points in the food supply chain, fighting food waste, improving agricultural practices, and leveraging technology to reduce methane emissions. These innovative companies are drastically reshaping the agriculture industry and the world to redefine farming for the greater good.
Keep checking back to see how the list evolves as companies continue to take on the sector using artificial intelligence, computer vision, and more to shift the world of agriculture.