AgFunder Closes First in Series of AI-Enabled Food & Ag Tech Funds
AgFunder Closes First in Series of AI-Enabled Food & Ag Tech Funds
Online venture capital platform AgFunder has raised a $2.25 million fund to invest in transformational food and agriculture startups. The fund, which will co-invest alongside AgFunder, closed at the end of March, one month after opening to AgFunder’s global network, and has already made four investments.
Nearly 40 accredited and institutional investors contributed to the fund including personal investments by senior and C-level executives at some of the major food and agriculture companies who have been following AgFunder for years. Other individual investors include Jason Camm, chief medical officer of Peter Thiel’s family office Thiel Capital.
Institutional investors include SYSTEMIQ, an advisory and investment firm dedicated to the creation of sustainable economic systems in energy, materials, and land use; impact investment fund C9 Capital; and a major US grain merchant.
“We are investing in AgFunder’s Co-Investment Fund due to the quality of deal flow and their expertise in global agtech. We have already begun working closely with the team and hope to contribute to the fund’s future success,” said Ryan Gralia from SYSTEMIQ.
The co-investment fund will invest alongside AgFunder’s own internal fund that counts AgFunder’s founders, investors, advisors, and leading agrifood tech entrepreneurs as investors.
AgFunder will be launching a new co-investment fund in the fall.
“Our decision to launch a series of co-investment funds with our global network is in line with our mission to open the agrifood tech sector to a wider audience of investors, bringing in much-needed capital,” said Rob Leclerc, CEO of AgFunder. “We have always believed that the smartest, most value-add investors for the industry are successful entrepreneurs and food and ag professionals. This also gives us an incredibly smart and dialed-in scout network.”
The co-investment fund will invest alongside the internal fund in the next 10-12 startups AgFunder invests in, operating across the value chain, from farm to fork. AgFunder is targeting startups at seed to Series B stage.
The co-investment fund’s first publicly announced portfolio company is Connecterra, the AI-powered dairy technology startup, which we announced in May. The fund has made another three investments in food tech, ag genomics, and remote sensing, all of which will be announced in due course.
AgFunder’s unique model allows it to tap into its global network of over 50,000 members and subscribers to source opportunities, assist with due diligence, and facilitate business development for its portfolio companies. AgFunder’s software engineers are also developing a range of technologies utilizing artificial intelligence that will help identify new opportunities and provide support for its portfolio companies.
“We believe that there is an enormous opportunity investing in early-stage companies that are developing digital and deep technology solutions for the many problems inherent across the food system. Our global platform and AI-enabled data engine allow us to compare technologies across multiple geographies, informing our investment decision-making process, and ultimately will deliver superior returns for our fund investors,” said AgFunder CIO, Michael Dean.
If you’d like early access to the next fund, you can sign up here.