Investments in agrifood tech are taking off

An example of a growing new food industry seeing burgeoning growth is agrifood tech — companies aiming to improve or disrupt the global food and agriculture industry. Companies in the space are already a mature market for venture capitalists and deals have consistently gotten bigger in recent years, data shows.

Details: In 2017 and 2018, the largest venture deals across the food and agriculture supply chain were in the food delivery segment.

• U.S.-based food delivery company Instacart saw a $600 million Series E funding round last year that followed a $400 million Series D funding in 2017.
• Brazil's restaurant marketplace iFood garnered a $590 million funding round last year, the country's largest ever.
• India's Swiggy, an online market for restaurants, is now valued at $3.3 billion after a $660 million investment from South Africa's Naspers.

What they're saying: "Until now, multinational corporations have exerted tremendous influence on what people eat and how staple food and food ingredients are procured and transported," UBS global wealth management analysts wrote in a recent white paper titled "The food revolution."

• Today, however, "shifting demand patterns are disrupting the industry and forcing big food companies and traders to scramble to stay ahead of consumers."
• "This move is being funded by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporations in the world."

Go deeper: Investors are missing out on the food revolution