Fourteen Australian companies have made the official 2024 FoodTech 500, an annual compilation of companies and start-ups that showcases entrepreneurial thinking at the intersection of food, technology and sustainability. Over 1420 companies from more than 80 countries had applied for inclusion on the list.
Three companies made the top 100, with cultivated meat business Vow taking the highest rank at 38th. Fresho, the closed marketplace for fresh food wholesale suppliers and their customers to manage ordering, picking, invoicing and payments in one place, was #63, and precision fermentation leader, Cauldron, was #67.
Australian FoodTech companies making the Top 500
- 38 Vow
- 63 Fresho
- 67 Cauldron
- 120 AgUnity
- 126 FarmLab
- 194 Stacked Farm
- 204 Swan Systems
- 226 Eden Brew
- 251 Wide Open Ag
- 274 Lyro Robotics
- 320 Farmbot Monitoring Solutions
- 337 Pairtree Intelligence
- 363 Whole.
- 462 Green Eco Technologies
Alessio D’Antino, the CEO of Forward Fooding (FF), the company behind the list said FoodTech 500 is designed to be a “beacon for trailblazers shaping the future of food”.
Each company within the FoodTech Data Navigator database and the FoodTech500 list is categorised according to eight ‘macro activities' covering the entire food supply chain.
Activities are divided across 34 sub-vertical 'domains’, and more than 170 technology tags allow the ecosystem to be clustered by parameters including technologies, business model, specific ingredients, and market applications.
The Great Correction and FoodTech Wave 3.0
The report said the FoodTech landscape of 2024 revealed the emergence of a new paradigm in FoodTech innovation.
“Despite challenging market conditions, the industry is pivoting toward more sustainable, systemic, and impactful approaches,” it said.
FF called the transformation “FoodTech Wave 3.0” and said it was “reshaping how entrepreneurs, investors, and established players are building the future of our food system”.
However, investment levels in FoodTech were reportedly “sobering”, with a 73 per cent drop in AgriFoodTech since its 2021 peak – representing a drop from $97 billion to $25.3 billion.
Deal volume fell 58 per cent (2,040 to 847), while median deal size increased from $4.8 million to $8 million, suggesting more selective investments.
“Pre-seed and seed deals, crucial for early-stage innovation, now constitute 28 per cent of total deals, down from 36 per cent in 2021 and 61 per cent in 2023. This decline in early-stage funding raises concerns about the future innovation pipeline and highlights the growing importance of alternative financing strategies,” the report said.
Sectors that had previously been dominant – food delivery and alternative proteins – had their share of funding shrink from 68 per cent to 47 per cent, which FF said signalled a “significant shift” in investor priorities and a move away from the hyper-growth models of previous years.
“This recalibration signals more than just a cyclical downturn – it indicates a fundamental re-evaluation of how innovation in food systems should be funded and scaled,” it said.
Shift from downstream to upstream
What the reallocation of investment reveals is where the market sees future value.
Global AgriFoodTech funding share from 2021-2024
- Ag Biotech: 3.8% (2021) → 6.2% (2024)
- Farm Management & Precision Farming: 2.7% (2021) → 6.6% (2024)
- Protein Fermentation: 2.3% (2021) → 3.4% (2024)
- Biotech/Synthetisation: 3.9% (2021) → 5.1% (2024)
- Upcycled Ingredients, Food Surplus & Waste Efficiency: 1.3% (2021) → 2.5% (2024)
FF said the shift shows even though the funding pool has shrunk, investor confidence has shifted to upstream technologies and circular approaches.
“Importantly, these percentage increases represent a reallocation of priorities rather than absolute growth – a recalibration toward a new ‘wave’ of innovations.
“The ‘FoodTech Wave 3.0’ takes a more holistic view, recognising that the greatest challenges – and opportunities – lie in reimagining how our entire food system functions.”
It emphasises:
- Circular approaches that eliminate waste and create value from byproducts;
- biotech innovations that work with natural systems rather than against them;
- technologies that connect different parts of the value chain; and
- solutions that simultaneously address environmental, health, and economic impacts.
The full report can be found here.
