Samjong KPMG "Global Smart Agriculture Investment Nearly 8 Trillion Won Last Year"
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Last year, the investment scale in smart agriculture by global investors such as private equity (PE), venture capital (VC), and accelerators reached $6.4 billion (approximately 7.88 trillion KRW), the largest in the past decade.
Samjong KPMG stated in its report "Smart Agriculture and the Changing Business Ecosystem," published on the 2nd, that the number of agtech investment deals last year was 495, more than seven times the 69 deals in 2010. Agtech is a term combining agriculture and technology, referring to technologies related to smart agriculture.
From 2010 to 2019, the number of investments in smart agriculture and agtech increased at an average annual rate of 24.5%. The total funds invested by global investors such as PE and VC in smart agriculture grew at an average annual rate of about 15%.
In the early-stage companies, investments in agtech were predominantly made by VCs and accelerators. The highest investments were found in software companies for farm and livestock management, robotics, mechanization, and agricultural equipment sectors.
The report explained that not only US-based investors but also major domestic investors have recently been investing in eco-friendly or health food industries. Examples include Kakao Investment's equity investment in mannaCEA, IMM Investment's equity investment in Farmate, and Anchor Equity Partners' acquisition of Daeheung Nongsan.
The importance of data in the agricultural industry is also increasing day by day. For this reason, global companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Alibaba are securing technological capabilities through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and investments or developing smart agriculture-related solutions.
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Samjong KPMG advised that for successful smart agriculture investment, it is necessary to precede the development of systems and platforms at each value chain stage, build data libraries, and secure capabilities to discover and nurture promising crops such as functional and medicinal crops. Additionally, measures such as institutional improvements and fostering excellent talent were also suggested.
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