13 The global agricultural industry is currently experiencing its biggest disruption yet, as farmers continue to see the benefits of smart farming and technology to increase crop yields, lower labor costs, and accompany theworld’s growing demand for food. For this reason and others, the leading global private equity and venture capital firm recently led a USD 37 million Series B round in an Israeli robotas-a-service firm that is revolutionizing the farming world by transforming one of its oldest resources — a tractor — into an autonomous vehicle. Israeli ag-tech company Prospera, which develops computer vision technologies to monitor and predict plant health and development, was bought for USD 300 million by US manufacturing company Valmont Industries. Extensive media coverage has put electric vehicles (EV) in the spotlight during the current climate tech revolution. With increasing valuations and large funding rounds, capital investment in the transportation and logistics sector is expected to hit USD 19.5 billion in 2021. The success of companies like Tesla has proven that EVs are on the cusp of wider adoption, but the market has two major hurdles to overcome. EVs remain a luxury purchase hampered by consumer perceptions over driving range and limited access to overnight rapid charging. For EVs to become the family automobile of choice, an open and robust cross-country charging infrastructure will need to be established, EVs need to become more affordable and the average American’s predilections – long wedded to the internal combustion engine – need to change. Tesla as well as companies like ChargePoint are addressing driving range issues by investing in rapid charging stations infrastructure, while the entry of more established automakers into the EV market is expected to lower the price of vehicles as competition takes hold and production volumes ramp up. However, increased government subsidies may be required to widen the availability of EVs to more customers to accelerate the switch over to a fully electric national standard. Global agricultural industry facing biggest disruption yet Full throttle towards Electric
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