Ready, tech, go: why Italy should bet on food innovation

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Global investment in agrifoodtech surged to $US26.1 billion in 2020, a 15.5% year-over-year increase.
Despite the economic turbulence, hundreds of startups fighting to solve the global food problem managed to access capital to power their businesses and advance their efforts.
As the FAO report indicates, to meet the complex challenges facing humanity there's a need to be build the future of agri-food systems on science and innovation. This is key to feed a growing population and face the climate crises, which is already affecting agricultural practices, agricultural production, and the nutritional quality of food crops.
For Italy, investing in innovation means not only protecting itself against these phenomena but also opening the doors to important and indispensable opportunities for economic growth. Then, why do we still bet so little in agrifood tech? Why does the Country rank 4th in Europe by number of AgriFoodTech startups, but only 10th in terms of capital invested? Can Italy become a leading player in Europe and, perhaps, worldwide? What does the future hold? We will ask managers, entrepreneurs, investors, accelerators and startups who have made food innovation their mission.
Relators:
Michela Petronio, VP, Blu1877
Giacomo Fanin, Managing Director, Cereal Docks
Alessandro Annovi, Innovation and Strategy Manager, CIR Food
Renato Grottola, SVP, Global Head Digital Assurance and Supply Chain, DNV GL