22 May 2019 --- European food tech and agri-tech start-ups last year raised US$1.6 billion in funding across 421 deals, according to the inaugural report from global Venture Capital platform AgFunder, in collaboration with F&A Next. This value was on par with the total in 2017 and a growth of 23 percent was noted in the number of deals, with the majority of activity taking place at the earliest stages. This is “exciting,” AgFunder reports, as it highlights the increasing number of entrepreneurs entering the industry. There remains, however, a clear gap in later stage funding.