Private equity investment in agriculture on track to surpass 2025 level

Global private equity and venture capital investment in agriculture totaled $2.11 billion in the first seven months of 2026, and is on pace to exceed the $2.38 billion full-year 2025 total, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

The trend may signal a turnaround for private equity investment in the sector, which has declined since 2022.

The number of transactions was 95, around 44% of the 218 deals announced in the full-year 2025.

The analysis covers companies in agricultural and farm machinery, agricultural biotechnology, agricultural products and services, agricultural software, farm warehousing and storage, among other subsectors.

AI and agriculture

Within the sector, private equity is investing in technologies aimed at operational improvement, driven by the need to enhance crop yields, address labor shortages, and improve efficiency, according to a report from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

In particular, AI-enabled technologies allow farmers to capture and analyze data from the physical world, which has historically been unmeasured, said Nick Bunick, partner at venture capital firm NewView Capital Management LLC.

"There is no public dataset describing what a cow's movement pattern looks like 36 hours before [it] goes lame, or how a particular block of trees will set fruit under this season's weather. That knowledge can only be generated through real-world deployment," Bunick said.

"The companies we find most compelling are turning the physical world into proprietary intelligence and using that data to make farms more productive and resilient," he added.

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Largest deals

In the largest transaction in the year through end-July, Pacific Avenue Capital Partners LLC acquired soil supplier Oldcastle Lawn & Garden Inc., which renamed its business GardenCore LLC, from CRH PLC for $1.1 billion.

Jefferies LLC served as Pacific Avenue's financial adviser, while Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP provided legal counsel. BofA Securities Inc. served as sell-side financial adviser.

In the second-largest transaction, Halter USA LLC secured $220 million in a series E round of funding led by The Founders Fund LLC. Private equity and venture capital firms, including NewView, Blackbird Ventures Pty. Ltd., Bond Capital Management LP, DCVC, Deer Management Co. LLC, Icehouse Ventures and Promus Venture Management LLC also participated in the round.

Boulder, Colorado-based Halter uses smart collars and software to help farmers remotely guide, monitor and manage their herds.

"Agriculture has many analog aspects, with many core workflows still performed manually and relatively low penetration of modern technology. That creates a rare opportunity for Halter to introduce a new way of operating to a very large, global industry," NewView's Bunick said.

The third-largest transaction was the $105 million series C round of tropical crop gene-editing company Tropic Biosciences UK Ltd. Forbion Capital Partners BV co-led the round, while Five Seasons Ventures Sarl, Genoa Ventures LLC, IQ Capital Partners LLP and Just Climate LLP participated.

Among subsectors, the agricultural services sector secured the largest amount of capital in 2026 through July, with $1.12 billion across 12 deals, driven by the GardenCore transaction.

Agriculture industry software came second, with $244.9 million in total across 12 deals.

Meanwhile, agricultural and farm machinery recorded the highest number of transactions at 20. Total capital raised stood at $161.6 million.

The US recorded the largest amount of private equity capital during the period, with $1.38 billion in total value, followed by the UK with $160.1 million.

India and China secured $121.8 million and $114.4 million, respectively.