THRIVE releases its annual list of Top 50 AgTech companies

SVG Ventures recently announced its 2019 THRIVE Top 50 Report, an annual ranking of 50 leading global AgTech companies exemplifying the best in agriculture and food-focused innovation. Recognizing companies across 6 different technology categories and seven problem areas within agriculture and food, the list is the result of six months of rigorous research and analysis with input provided by SVG Ventures corporate partners' Trimble, Land O'Lakes, Wilbur Ellis, Taylor Farms, Elanco, Corteva, E&J Gallo Winery, Verizon Wireless, the City of Salinas, Western Growers Association, Yamaha Motor Venture & Laboratory Silicon Valley, Driscoll's Berries, JV Smith, and Wells Fargo.

The 2019 report uses data from SVG Ventures' startup database and supplementary industry data to identify 50 companies that are series A funded and have recently fundraised as well as have a product in market. The final fifty companies reflected in this year's report were then categorized into six main technology categories- Biotechnology, Connected Devices, Cloud Services/Saas, Robotics & Automation, Next-Gen Farms, and Big Data & Analytics- and seven problem areas- Health & Nutrition, Labor, Farm Management, Environmental Sustainability, Food Safety, Traceability, And E-Commerce.

The report also includes analysis and highlights of industry exits, including the purchase of previous THRIVE Top 50 companies Agrible, by Nutrien for $63M, and Strider by Syngenta, amongst other purchases led by Land O'Lakes, Merck and Jain Irrigation.

In addition, 2019's report includes THRIVE's 25 Ones to Watch, a list is comprised of 25 agtech companies that fell just short of meeting the top 50 criteria(series A, recent large fundraise and a product in market).

Finally,2019 Unicorn Contenders predicts the industry's next billion-dollar companies, and this year is dominated by vertically integrated 'next-gen' farms including AeroFarms and Brightfarms, and top biotechnology contenders Gingko Bioworks and Indigo Ag.

"This year's awardees are developing incredible solutions that enable the agriculture and food industries to respond in a proactive way to urgent environmental challenges, labor shortages, food security, and human health concerns" said SVG Ventures-THRIVE Founder and CEO John Hartnett, "Top 50 companies are critical assets to the industry and we are proud to highlight the incredible spectrum of innovation represented by this year's Top 50."

THRIVE Top 50 company founders and executives, including CropIn Technology Solutions, AeroFarms, Pivot Bio, Prospera, Taranis Ag, Benson Hill Biosciences and Solinftech, will present onstage during THRIVE's AgTech Innovation Summit on March 27, hosted for the first time at Santa Clara University.

To view the Top 50 list click here.

About SVG Ventures-THRIVE

SVG-THRIVE is the leading agri-food innovation ecosystem, comprised of top agriculture, food & technology corporations, universities and investors. With a community of over 1,500 startups from 67 countries, the THRIVE platform invests, accelerates and creates unparalleled access for entrepreneurs to scale globally. SVG Ventures-THRIVE is based in Silicon Valley, California.