Yesterday, in the first part of this outlook in Global Corporate Venturing, we covered genome editing tools that could change life and their progeny and a possible future evolution of computing to support artificial intelligence through quantum computing.

These themes were built on historian Yuval Harari’s idea that we are in a “second Industrial Revolution, but the product this time will not be textiles or machines or vehicles, or even weapons. The product this time will be humans themselves.”

His question was whether if we could separate consciousness from intelligence then most people could become superfluous. If so, then “the biggest question maybe in economics and politics of the coming decades will be what to do with all these useless people….

“My best guess, which is just a guess, is that food will not be a problem. With that kind of technology, you will be able to produce food to feed everybody.

“The problem is more boredom, and what to do with people, and how will they find some sense of meaning in life when they are basically meaningless, worthless. My best guess at present is a combination of drugs and computer games as a solution for most.”

This is a starting point to look at two other areas of disruptive technology: fuel for people’s minds and bodies.

Fuelling the mind

Virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) in 2016 could stand at the cusp of mass adoption or delayed engagement by creating a Star Trek or Matrix-style world of immersive technology. Or not.

Influential founder and investor Kevin Rose’s number one prediction for this year was: “Virtual reality will turn out to be a dud. Great initial ‘wow’ experience, but ultimately just a big chunk of tech that will collect dust in the corner.”

He offered some hope that “at some point (years out) the right mixture of power, size, price, and reality technology will combine into a device that will see mass adoption (likely first in AR not VR)”. 

Similarly, last year’s “seven predictions for 2015” by my colleague Toby Lewis noted: “Smart glasses have in some ways been anti-climactic in 2014. The term glasshole has become a common word of abuse towards tech triumphalists sporting their Google glasses.” He expected AR would defy the critics last year and there was increasing levels of investment activity.

Twelve months on, in 2016 we shall see customer reactions as products start hitting the ground from this month, with particular attention reserved for Facebook’s Oculus Rift undergoing trials currently after its $2bn purchase of the VR company in 2014.

But given a lot of other smart investors backed a lot of interesting companies in the space last year, and there are dedicated VR funds being launched, such as Japan-based publishing conglomerate Colopl’s $50m fund, it seems more a question of timing for breakthrough rather than eventual success.

For a wider tour of the space then do read Tracy Isacke, managing director of Silicon Valley Bank’s, column in Global Corporate Venturing from June. Of 2015’s deals, here’s a handful of the many promising much:

  • Magic Leap, the US-based augmented reality developer that counts Google and mobile semiconductor maker Qualcomm among its investors, was last month raising $827m for its series C round at a post-money valuation of $3.7b, Fortune reported having obtained from market data provider VC Experts. Google and Qualcomm Ventures, which acts as Qualcomm’s corporate venturing arm, took part in a $542m series B round in October 2014 alongside film and comic book producer Legendary Entertainment, KKR, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Andreessen Horowitz and Obvious Ventures.
  • At the other end of likely price point comes Baofeng Mojing, which raised $10m from Chinese investors, although at $15 its goggles are still pricier than Google’s Cardboard. But given the history of disruption Baofeng could still be worth a look.
  • An AR platform worth watching remains Blippar, a UK-based augmented reality technology company backed by semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm, which last year raised $45m in funding from unnamed investors.
  • Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cable and mass media company Comcast, led a $6m series A round for US-based virtual reality content producer Baobab Studios, whose syndicate also included Samsung Ventures, smartphone maker HTC, online media company Chernin Group, Advancit Capital, Box Group, Peter Thiel and Mark Pincus.
  • Another exciting company, which has the backing of Oculus’ early investor, Formation 8, is US-based NextVR, which has developed technology to capture and deliver high-definition virtual reality content, and raised $30.5m also from Comcast, Time Warner, Madison Square Garden and Dick Clark Productions.
  • Similarly, New Zealand-based virtual reality technology developer 8i secured $13.5m in series A funding from investors including electronics producer Samsung and media group Bertelsmann
  • One of the biggest rounds, however, went to US-based virtual reality technology producer Jaunt, which raised a $65m series C round co-led by media company Walt Disney, corporate-backed Evolution Media Partners, and venture capital firm China Media Capital.
  • Finally, Second Life inventor Philip Rosedale’s latest company, High Fidelity, a US-based developer of deployable virtual worlds previously backed by internet company Google’s corporate venturing arm Google Ventures, raised $11m in series B funding.

Fuelling the body

Noted angel and secondaries investor Jeremy Coller* when he thought about what his obituary would say of him realised then what he wanted it to say: that he contributed to eradicating factory farming.

His foundation’s report last year, Human Consequences of Animal Factory Farming, said this idea or “truth” was now at the “beginning of the journey of acceptance”.

Central to activists, such as Coller, is the view that “factory farming is a false solution” to feeding a growing population. Research from the report indicates that, on average, it takes about 6kg of plant protein to produce 1kg of animal protein and 4kg of wild fish are used as feed to produce 1kg of farmed salmon.

There were 7.3 billion people alive last year, with the world’s population expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, according to the United Nations (via a World Bank post).

Half of the world’s population growth between 2015 and 2050 will occur in just a relatively handful countries, primarily India and Nigeria. 

Table: Countries with greatest population growth between 2015 and 2050

country          population increase (millions)      % of total growth 

India   394     16.6

Nigeria          216     9.11

Pakistan        121     5.08

Congo            118     4.97

Ethiopia         89.1    3.75

US       67.1    2.82

Indonesia      64.7    2.72

Uganda         62.8    2.65

Source: UN

So, apart from meat-free Mondays, what are the disruptive innovations in food and agriculture.

Improved efficiency of production through agtech and data tools, sparked in part by Monsanto’s purchase of Climate Corp for $930m, as well as and breeding and genetic modifications of salmon, animals and crops.

  • Agrochemical company Monsanto and agribusiness Syngenta were among the backers of a $17m series B round for US-based agriculture technology developer Blue River Technology, which manufactures robotic systems that monitor and treat each individual plant, reducing the need for chemicals and fertilisers by up to 90%.
  • AgBiome, a US-based developer of agricultural products, such as fungicides, to improve crop productivity, secured $34.5m in series B funding yesterday from investors including agrochemical company Monsanto and agribusiness Syngenta.
  • US-based big data analytics company Farmers Business Network (FBN), which provides anonymised information to the group as a whole enabling members to make more informed decisions on which products such seeds, equipment or fertilisers work best, raised $15m in a series B round led by Google Ventures.

 Substitutions are also proving, if anything, even more popular with investors.

  • Ripple Foods, a US-based startup producing plant-based milk, raised $13.6m in Series A funding from a group of undisclosed venture investors last month.
  • Impossible Foods, a US-based company developing meat and dairy-like food products made from plants backed by Google, raised $108m in a series D round led by financial services firm UBS and also including Viking Global Investors, which took part as a new investor, as well as existing backers including Horizons Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Bill Gates.
  • A few weeks before 2015, US-based food producer Hampton Creek, which makes an egg-free mayonnaise, raised $90m in series C funding from investors including Taiwan-based food conglomerate Uni-President Enterprises Corporation’s owners, the Lin family, as well as Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures and Khosla Ventures, Far East Organization, WP Global, Collaborative Fund, Founders Fund and several private investors.
  • Horizons had also invested in Modern Meadow’s $10m round in 2014 after its success in gaining government funding for its laboratory-created meat and leather process, as well as Muufri’s seed round that year.
  • And one still at the university stage, is work by Mark Post’s team at Maastricht University on cultured meat, ie cells from a cow grown in a lab. The price of a burger has dropped from $325,000 when Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google bought one in 2013, to $11, Post told news provider ABC in March.

Tomorrow we will look at part three but please let me know what you think will be the ones to watch.

* Disclosure: a shareholder in Mawsonia, which publishes Global Corporate Venturing, Global University Venturing and Global Government Venturing.