venture capital

Bonus Ep: The State of Fundraising in Agtech

Bonus Ep: The State of Fundraising in Agtech

Life is moving pretty fast for founders and investors working in agtech.

Recent years have seen record flows of capital into agrifood, driven in part by agriculture potential to provide climate solutions. And the massive disruptions of COVID-19 meant developed markets received a historic taste of what changes will be needed in a world impacted by climate change and further uncertainty.

So, how have the last few years impacted agtech founders looking to raise capital, and investors on the lookout for opportunities with impact?

For this bonus episode, Tenacious Ventures’ Partners Sarah Nolet and Matthew Pryor asked a group of founders and investors to share what they’ve learned and observed about the state of agtech investing in 2022. As a dedicated agrifood venture fund “born in the teeth of COVID-19”, Sarah and Matthew also offer their take on what has changed and what has stayed the same as we look to the future.

Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #1 - Semios

Later-Stage Agtech Startup Lessons #1 - Semios

In this 3-part series, we’ll share the lessons from agtech startup founders who have grown their agtech companies from idea to at least 100 employees.

This episode features Michael Gilbert, CEO and founder of Semios, a crop management platform initially focused on tree fruit, nuts and vines, based in Canada. Michael has a PhD in chemistry and started his career in pharmaceuticals and biotech, before realizing his knowledge could be applied to agricultural inputs.

This initial idea has led him on a journey from biologicals, to creating a company with more than 300 employees and over $225 million in external capital raised to date.


Investing in Tech to Enable Regen Ag

Investing in Tech to Enable Regen Ag

Venture investment into technology companies that have the potential to scale regenerative agriculture is accelerating. However, it is a relatively new domain for venture capital, and it comes with its own unique set of challenges.

So what role can VCs play in the regen ag landscape? And what technologies and trends are VCs looking at to guide their investments?

This bonus episode features a discussion from a live panel conversation at the Regenerative Food Systems Investment Forum (RFSIF), in California.

Designing Crops to Change the Plant-Based Food System

Designing Crops to Change the Plant-Based Food System

Benson Hill is designing crops and ingredients for some of the world’s most popular plant-based food brands. But the company has no intention of becoming a brand itself. Instead, it’s focused on revolutionizing the entire food system, from how plants are grown, to what they taste like, to the range of crop varieties on offer.

Founder and CEO, Matt Crisp, started Benson Hill nearly a decade ago as a plant biology company, using analytics and machine learning to increase yields. Now it has grown to become a technology platform as well as a vertically integrated food and ingredients business, designing high protein soybeans and yellow peas to fuel the growing plant-based protein industry.

Did Silicon Valley Kill Agtech?

Did Silicon Valley Kill Agtech?

The Silicon Valley model for innovation has worked famously for many software based companies, such as Facebook and PayPal. However, when it comes to agtech, the Silicon Valley template for startup success hasn’t translated very well. This template, of either “user is the customer” or “user is the product” is rather limited in agriculture, where the farming population is small (restricting scale) and the stakes are high.

This episode features Rob Trice, the founder of Better Food Ventures and The Mixing Bowl, along with Sarah Nolet and Matthew Pryor, who both lead the Agthentic Group and Tenacious Ventures. All three guests have a solid tech history in Silicon Valley and discuss why the business models typically used by venture-backed software companies, can’t just be copy-pasted to agriculture.


Capitalism for Good

Capitalism for Good

Can capitalism be a force for good? David Lee left the traditional corporate world to work for some of the most bullish startup companies in agrifood tech, including Impossible Foods and AppHarvest, where he was appointed the company’s President earlier this year. David did this out of a belief that the levers of capitalism and consumerism are the fastest ways to transform the food system. He says the key to address the world’s urgent food sustainability problems is by creating consumer movements.

Episode 18: Tony Holt on differences and similarities between agtech and other sectors

Episode 18: Tony Holt on differences and similarities between agtech and other sectors

Tony Holt, Partner at Square Peg Capital, is now an agtech investor after announcing that Sydney-based agtech startup AgriDigital joined their portfolio in early 2018. In this episode, recorded at the Sydney AgTech Meetup, Tony discusses this investment and their views on agtech in general.

Episode 11: Zack Armen on agtech commercialization and the intersection of food and tech

Episode 11: Zack Armen on agtech commercialization and the intersection of food and tech

Zack Armen, formerly a senior associate at venture development firm Flagship Pioneering, is currently Director of Business Development at Incredible Foods. In this episode Zack talks about Flagship's unique model for commercialization, the intersection of foodtech an agriculture, and how VCs look at agtech.