Israel Boasts Some 750 Startups In Food, AgriTech Sectors

May 8, 2018 | Israel is home to some 750 active startups and companies in the food tech and agriculture tech industries, at least half of them founded over the past 10 years, according to a report by the Israeli non-profit Start-Up Nation Central. The report came as Israel is hosting three large events in these fields this week, with hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors, government officials and VCs flocking to Tel Aviv for the annual AgriVest 2018 and AgriTech 2018 conferences, as well as FoodTechIL. According to the Start-Up Nation Central, Israeli expertise lies in agricultural biotech and crop protection, drip irrigation and water management, farm management, alternative protein, and food safety. In 2017, Israeli food tech and agritech companies raised $189 million in capital funds, up significantly from $97 million in 2016. Fredrik Liljedahl, an Agritech analyst at Start-Up Nation Central, writes in a separate report on 2017’s findings in the industries that “Israel has always answered its own agricultural challenges, and in the process has created a large produce export industry… But the real comparative advantage of this small country with its proven agricultural know-how lies in exporting technology, often tested first by Israel’s own farmers.”