John DeLorean Knew What He Was Doing

At least where he built his car...

It was the late seventies when DeLeorean announced he was going to build his new car in Ireland, which back then seemed like a bad joke. Today, it has become the hot bed for tech start ups and the number of agrifood-tech investments in Ireland doubled last year as SOSV, the $300 million venture capital firm established by former Dragons’ Den star Seán O’Sullivan, was named the most active investor globally. 

This is a small but fast growing segment of the start-up world covering companies that are aiming to disrupt the global food and agriculture industry. More than $10 billion was invested in more than 900 deals worldwide in 2017, with investment growth up 29 per cent. 

The deal count in Ireland doubled year on year to 19, according to the figures from Agfunder that suggested the increase was due to increased participation in the market from players. This includes the likes of the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which last year invested $40 million in agritech funds.   

“Over $150 million in smart money from investors like Bill Gates, Cargill, GV [Google ventures], Nestlé, Khosla, KPCB, Temasek and others has been put into companies in the past two years in new sectors like cellular agriculture, nutraceuticals, and connected kitchen appliances.