China grew 43% on state-backed biotech investment; South Korea surged 171%. Deeptech funding in agrifoodtech has fallen 62% since 2021 — but has held up materially better than non-deeptech at -73%.

For founders, the message is clear: capital is reallocating toward upstream science (genetics, biologicals, robotics) and climate-tech with measurable abatement potential — and pulling away from late-stage downstream brands.