PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Alexandria Venture Investments, the strategic venture capital platform of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), an urban office REIT and the first, longest-tenured and pioneering owner, operator and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, agtech and technology campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, has accelerated its efforts to support the agrifoodtech sector by investing in innovative companies that are developing groundbreaking technologies to meaningfully improve human health and nutrition, as well as those companies that are combating climate change through sustainable agriculture technologies and practices. Recognized by AgFunder as one of the top five most active U.S.-based investors in the agrifoodtech sector in 2021, Alexandria Venture Investments is on track to double its investment activity this year, a move supported broadly by the increase in private capital that has flowed into the sector from climate change-focused funds. Venture investing in the overall agrifoodtech sector has grown dramatically in recent years, from $8.9 billion in 2016 to $24 billion in the first half of 2021 alone, amounting to a more than fourfold increase in funding over the last five years.
“Alexandria has long understood that the agricultural and climate innovation sectors represent perhaps the most critically untapped source of opportunities for improving nutrition, ending global hunger, combating climate change and advancing human health at its most fundamental level,” said Joel S. Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and founder and head of Alexandria Venture Investments. “Since 2000, Alexandria has been at the vanguard and heart of the agrifoodtech ecosystem, developing and operating sophisticated agtech infrastructure and investing in innovative companies advancing novel approaches with immense potential to address sustainability-, agriculture-, food- and nutrition-related challenges. These strategic efforts have enabled us to lead the market in identifying top-tier investment opportunities and assist in building the next generation of impactful agrifoodtech companies revolutionizing the sector.”
Alexandria continues to focus on investing in the highest-quality, most promising and positively impactful companies across the production-distribution-consumption value chain, including those operating in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) space, also referred to as indoor ag; innovators bringing more resilient and productive crops to market through gene editing; disruptive organizations working on sustainable crop nutrients and targeted pesticides; and pioneers in food transforming the way we eat. Included among Alexandria’s agrifoodtech investment portfolio companies are those working to innovate across the food value chain, such as GreenLight Biosciences, which has announced a potential SPAC transaction; Vindara, which was acquired by Kalera, Inc. in 2021; Bear Flag Robotics, which …….
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alexandria-venture-investments-one-years-133000541.html