Speaking Startup: A pandemic pause and big restart for venture capital

When the COVID-19 pandemic created more uncertainty than startup investors could handle, they took a break. But it didn’t last long. Brian Matthews, a founder and general partner of St. Louis-based venture capital firm Cultivation Capital, said after a few months of watching the market, the group decided to jump right back in to investing. Data suggest Cultivation Capital wasn't the only firm to react this way. Despite the pandemic, 2020 brought more venture capital investment than 2019, according to a Crunchbase report. Also, as the pandemic has brought new attention to the food supply chain, some local farms have seen a boom in interest. This week, we spoke with Brooke Salvaggio of Kansas City's URBAVORE urban farm, who said sales for small, organic farms like hers are "through the roof."