As someone who loves food, wants to change the world, and believes that start-ups and early stage financiers can help drive much-needed change in our food industry, I keep tabs on investors working in the food and agriculture spaces. Here’s a quick list of groups working in the industry — and for startups, potential sources of equity financing.
Note: Originally published on April 28, 2015. The current publication date reflects the last time the list was updated.
Accelerators
What: Time-bound programs that typically offer mentorship, co-working space, and usually funding, often in the form of equity. Check out my list of accelerators and incubators here. The cash you’ll receive from these programs is usually not very substantial. If you’re truly fundraising, keep reading.
Angel Investors
What: Angels are individual investors who choose to invest their personal money. They often invest at the seed round. Note: Some angel investors prefer debt-financing to equity financing. (And as a start-up, you might prefer that, too.) More on convertible notes later.
Angel Food Network | Chicago | IL | no investments as of 2015 |
Austin Foodshed Investors | Austin | TX | “connecting accredited investors with local sustainable food companies” |
Branch Venture Group | Boston | MA | Provides funding and advice to early-stage food companies with a focus on beverage CPG, foodtech, and agtech spaces |
Colorado Food Investments | Boulder | CO | sustainable food investments |
Food Angels | New York | NY | food, alcohol, CPG, drink or foodtech companies |
Hyde Park Angels | Chicago | IL | they have a consumer group that does some food business investing |
Slow Money | New York | NY | “$57 million has been invested in more than 632 local and organic food enterprises through our network” |
Sustainable Local Food Investment Group (SLoFIG) | Chicago | IL | supporting Chicago’s foodshed |
The Cascadia Foodshed Funding Project (CFFP) | Edmonds | WA | collaboration of foundation and individual impact investors seeking to use market-based strategies to grow the Pacific Northwest’s regional food economy |
Equity Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has gained a lot of attention in the last decade. There are two types.
Cash-for-perks: Crowdfunding is a way to take your fundraising efforts to the crowd. In exchange for some kind of perk (a shout out, early access to a new product, a t-shirt, etc.), startups get cash from the crowd. See the list of crowdfunding platforms dedicated to food & beverage, consumer goods, and agriculture here.
Cash-for-equity: The other model for crowdfunding, which became a legal reality after the Title IV of the JOBS Act Jobs Act got the green light, is cash-for-equity. Investors may be angels or funds, which puts CrowdFunding (for equity) nicely between Accelerators & Venture Capital in terms of sources of equity. The platforms listed below curate deal flow for their investors, so you’ll have an additional round of selling to do just to get listed. From there, each investor makes their own decision on whether or not they’re interested in investing.
AgFunder | San Francisco | CA | AgTech |
CircleUp | San Francisco | CA | Consumer Goods, including food & beverage |
FundersClub | San Francisco | CA | Funds a variety of startups; food startups that have utilized this resource include SpoonRocket, Zesty, Goldbely, and Instacart |
Venture.co | Burlington | VA | Early stage investment bank packaging and selling raises from $400k-$15M; features some consumer-facing companies including food & bev |
Venture Capital
What: VCs are institutional investors (i.e., individuals investing from a fund). Venture Capital firms usually invest at a slightly later stage than angels and in larger amounts, but these things are usually functions of their fund size, mandate, and investment themes. Venture Capital funding is hard to get.
Agri-Innovation Venture Capital Fund | Norwich | United Kingdom | |
AgTech Innovation Fund | Davis | CA | |
Aqua Capital Management | Omaha | NE | water rights investment and management |
Aqua-Spark | Utrecht | Netherlands | |
Aquacopia | New York | NY | Venture Capital for Aquaculture |
Armonia | Greenwich | CT | regenerative farmland, brands & funds (focus on grass-fed beef) |
Arthur Ventures Growth Fund | Fargo | ND | focused on software, but sometimes makes ag software investments – Fargo, ND & Minneapolis |
Avrio Capital | Calgary, Toronto, Montreal | Canada | “innovative food & agriculture companies” |
Better Food Ventures | Menlo Park | CA | Food/Tech |
Blueberry Ventures | San Francisco | CA | “innovate brands in the food and beverage space” |
Boulder Food Group (BFG) | Boulder | CO | Food & Beverage |
Bradmer Foods | Baltimore | MD | Consulting & Investment Firm |
Capitol Food Ventures | Washington | DC | business advisory and investment firm for food & ag businesses |
CAVU Venture Partners | Austin | TX | CAVU Venture Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in firms in food and beverage; $365M fund |
Clearwell Group | Tampa | FL | |
Cleveland Avenue | Chicago | IL | Started by McDonald’s former CEO Don Thompson, this VC fund is focused on food, beverage, and restaurant concepts |
Cultivian Sandbox | Chicago | IL | AgTech |
Cultivian Ventures | Carmel | IN | |
Data Collective | San Francisco | CA | focused on big data; has made several AgTech investments |
Dom Capital Group | Chicago | IL | focused on restaurants & hospitality |
Edible Ventures | Boston | MA | currently raising a fund |
Fair Food Fund | Ann Arbor | MI | funds good food businesses |
Farm2050 | Palo Alto | CA | AgTech |
Fresh Source Capital | Cambridge | MA | sustainable food & agriculture |
Fund the Food | Ashville | AL | student-led fund started by the Kirchner Private Capital Group, focused on food security |
Gastronome Ventures | San Diego | CA | Specialty Food |
GreenSoil Investments | Tel Aviv, Toronto | products and services focused on smart and efficient use of resources such as land and water | |
Inventages | London, Hong Kong | Life sciences, nutrition, and wellness | |
Isocline Ventures | Charleston | SC | Wine & Spirits |
JumpCapital | Chicago | IL | recently invested in several food companies |
Khosla Ventures | Menlo Park | CA | recently invested in several food companies |
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Green Growth Fund | Menlo Park | CA | historically interested in CleanTech; venturing into AgTech now |
Lewis & Clark Ventures | St. Louis | MO | “We Provide Series A | B Round Venture Capital To High Potential Innovators Throughout The Midwest” |
Liquid Asset Brands | Chicago | IL | focused on innovative beverage brands, Liquid Asset invests from seed to series B |
Maveron | Seattle, San Francisco | concentrates on consumer start-ups only | |
MetaBrand’s Capital Pillar | Edison | NJ | consumer products with a focus on food and beverage, these guys provide both debt and equity financing and also provide advisory services |
Mokja Ventures | Washington | DC | $5M fund for local restaurants |
New Crop Capital | Washington, DC | plant based foods | |
New Ground Ventures | Westport | CT | FoodTech, Branded Food & Beverage |
NGEN Partners | New York | NY | |
NRV | Richmond | VA | |
Powerplant Ventures | Los Angeles | CA | flying a little under the radar, these guys have invested in Thrive Market and REBBL; focused on plant-based ventures |
Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund | “Part of Rabo Private Equity, the Rabo Food & Agri Innovation Fund will invest in early-stage food and agriculture companies in the United States and Western Europe.” | ||
Raptor Group | Boston | MA | recently invested in several food companies |
Salt Partners Group | San Francisco | CA | Food & Beverage |
Salt Venture Partners | Boston | MA | FoodTech; Boston and SF |
Seed to Growth (S2G) | Chicago | IL | transformative food and agriculture companies |
SJF Ventures | Durham | NC | AgTech; NYC and SF |
Smallholding Investments | San Francisco | CA | early stage ($1m-$10m revenue) food and consumer products |
Sonoma Brands | Sonoma | CA | founded by Krave Jerky founder |
SOS Ventures | New York | NY | runs the FoodX accelerator and has made several investments in the food space |
Spiral Sun Ventures | Chicago | IL | “We are a mission-based seed capital fund that promotes a healthier lifestyle by investing in companies that create better-for-you consumer products.” |
True North Venture Partners | Chicago | IL | “invests in early stage companies with disruptive innovations that can reshape socially important industries such as energy, water, agriculture and waste.” |
Upfront Ventures | Santa Monica | CA | Partner Kara Nortman backed Power Supply/Territory in their most recent round |
Uprise Ventures | New York | NY | invested in Sir Kensington’s; focus on the consumer space; emphasize connecting companies with key influencers |
Valley Oak Investments | San Francisco | CA | Early-stage food, agriculture, and health & wellness companies |
Village Capital | Washington | DC | Also invests in ag, ag-tech, and aquaculture |
Other VC groups making occasional food investments: Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Hospitality Capital (NYC), Maveron LLC, SV Angel, True Ventures, Obvious Collection, Revolution (Steve Case: Sweetgreen), Yellowstone Capital
Corporate Venture Capital
What: Corporate VCs are institutional investors in the sense that they’re investing out of a fund, but their investments are usually bankrolled by a parent corporation who wants to fund innovations in their industry (often because it gives them a line-of-sight into emerging trends and opportunities). Depending on the size of the fund and its strategy, these groups may have been formed as part of the firm’s M&A strategy. Note that CPGs launching an internal fund is a strong and growing trend.
20 Million and Change | Ventura | CA | Patagonia’s clothing, food, water, energy, and waste fund |
301 Inc. | Minneapolis | MN | General Mills’ corporate VC |
7-Ventures | Dallas | TX | 711’s VC Fund |
Acre Venture Partners | Santa Monica | CA | Campbell’s $125M fund |
Boulder Brands Investment Group | Boulder | CO | Boulder Brand’s early stage investment group; they’ve got an M&A group, too |
Constellation Ventures | Victor | NY | Constellation Brand’s venture arm; emphasis on spirits |
Cultivate Ventures | Washington | D.C. | Hain Celestial’s venture arm |
Distill Ventures | London | United Kingdom | Diageo’s VC fund for investing in alcoholic and non-nonalcoholic beverage brands |
Dupont Ventures | Agriculture, etc | ||
Eighteen94 | Battle Creek | MI | Kellogg’s $100M fund that launched in June 2017 |
Emil Capital Partners | Greenwich | CT | owned by Tengelmann Group |
General Mills Ventures | Minneapolis | MN | (for brands with revenues of $3MM or more) |
Maumee Ventures | Maumee | OH | Ag Innovation, owned by The Andersons |
Monsanto Growth Ventures | San Francisco | CA | AgTech |
Tyson New Ventures, LLC | Chicago | IL | Tyson Food’s new $150MM fund focused on innovation in its core fresh meats, poultry and prepared foods businesses |
Unilever Ventures | Englewood Cliffs | NJ | Unilver’s €450mm fund headquartered in London, with a US office in Englewood Cliffs, NJ |
VEB | Atlanta | GA | Coca Cola’s fund |
ZX Ventures | New York | NY | AB-InBev’s VC fund for investing in alcoholic beverages |
Growth Equity
What: Growth Equity shops are institutional investors (i.e., individuals investing from a fund). Growth Equity firms invest at much later stages, and at much greater amounts, than VC firms. Conceptually, you might think of them as sitting between venture capital and private equity (see below), but growth equity is ultimately a segment of private equity. These investors prefer de-risked investments, invest when companies have tens of millions of dollars in revenues and/or EBITDA, and create value through profitable revenue growth. Hence, growth equity.
2x Consumer Products Growth Partners | Chicago | IL | Generally with revenue between $2 million and $25 million; no pre-revenue businesses |
Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners | New York | NY | agriculture investing; some growth equity, some PE (they’re an RBIC) |
Anterra Capital | Amsterdam, Boston | focus on companies that are transforming the safety, security and sustainability of global food | |
BIGR Ventures | Boulder | CO | growth equity fund providing value-added, strategic partnership and capital to promising early-stage natural and organic products; http://bizwest.com/2016/09/07/boulder-investment-group-reprise-raises-55m-new-natural-products-fund/ |
Greenmont Capital Partners | Boulder | CO | green consumer products |
Pontifax | Los Angeles | CA | foodtech, agtech |
Sunrise Strategic Partners | Boulder | CO | provides growth capital and expertise to emerging brands in the healthy, active and sustainable living space that resonate with millennials, have a strong proof of concept and have reached approximately $10-$20 million in revenue |
Private Equity
What: Private Equity shops are institutional investors (i.e., individuals investing from a fund) using a combination of equity and debt (also known as leverage). In the eighties, private equity transactions were known as leveraged buyouts, or LBOs.Like other investors, the size of private equity investments are typically a function of fund size and strategy, but these are late-stage buyouts. Turnarounds may or may not be involved.
AGR Partners | Davis | CA | evergreen fund focused on food & ag value chain |
Alliance Consumer Growth | NYC and LA | consumer goods, including food & beverage | |
Altamont Capital Partners | Palo Alto | CA | Their consumer portfolio includes a few food companies |
Arbor Investments | Chicago | IL | Food & Beverage |
Arlon Capital | New York | NY | middle-market food & agriculture |
Equilibrium Capital | San Francisco, London, Portland (OR) | recent ACM Permanent Crops Fund is focused on … permanent crops; SF and Oregon | |
Farmland LP | San Francisco | CA | buys conventional farmland, converts to organic |
First Beverage Ventures | Los Angeles | CA | PE arm of First Beverage, focused on “emerging beverage companies” |
Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison | Minneapolis | MN | |
Hancock Agricultural Investment Group | Boston | MA | row & permanent cropland |
Homestead Capital | San Francisco | CA | operating farmland |
Investeco Sustainable Food Fund | Toronto | Canada | |
JH Whitney & Co | New Canaan | CT | invests in some consumer goods & restaurant groups |
Kainos Capital | Dallas | TX | |
Kirchner Food Security Group | Ashville | AL | Agriculture |
Paine + Partners | Chicago | IL | Food & Agribusiness; Chicago, NC, CA |
Retail & Restaurant Growth Capital Lp | TX | just like it sounds, but they invest $1-3M along side other PE firms and try to add value through consulting services | |
Rural America Fund | Chicago | IL | growing middle-market rural American companies, principally in agriculture or ag-related businesses |
Sherbrooke Capital | Wellesley | MA | branded consumer goods |
Southern Pastures | Auckland | New Zealand | pasture land |
Sovos Brands | San Francisco | CA | team of CPG veterans, backed by Advent International |
Swander Pace Capital | San Francisco | CA | consumer products; SF and NJ |
Verlinvest | NYC, Singapore, Paris, Brussels | consumer-focused fund with a food & beverage (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) theme; shareholders are all from AB-InBev | |
VMG Partners | Los Angeles | CA | lower-middle market, branded consumer products; SF and LA |
Winona Capital | Chicago | IL | some branded food products |
Think this list is missing a group or someone important? Want to update your organization’s listing? Email me.
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