With more than 740,000 farms, 330,000 food businesses, 70,000 food industries and 4 million workers, the Italian agri-food market is the 3rd largest in the European Union and in 2023 generated more than 65 billion euros, or 3.8 percent of the total Italian economy. It is therefore not surprising that so many new entrepreneurial realities are emerging from the horizon aiming to renew such a strategic sector for our country: as of today, there are about 340 startups active in the Agri-Foodtech sector, a market that in Italy received an investment of 167 million euros in 2023, compared to 152 million euros in the previous year (+9.8%). Against this backdrop comes the first Italian State of Foodtech Report by Eatable Adventures, among the leading global accelerators in the Foodtech field. According to the analysis, the North dominates the startup landscape in Italy unchallenged: about one-third (30.5%) are based in Lombardy, followed closely by Emilia-Romagna (11.1%) and then Piedmont, Veneto and Lazio, from which about 10% come in equal numbers. In addition, 50 percent of total startups are born between 2022 (25.3 percent) and 2023 (22.8 percent): a phenomenon that started in 2018 (7.6 percent) and, since 2021, has seen a real surge (19.1 percent), peaking in 2022. An increase, not only due to the growing interest in using innovation to provide answers to the consistent challenges of the food supply chain and changes in consumption trends, but also to the emergence of ecosystem support initiatives and new investment tools for emerging realities.
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