Anterra Capital announced the first close of its third fund at $100 million, with a target size of $200 million, as the specialist venture firm looks to capitalize on emerging opportunities created by artificial intelligence and biological innovation across the global food and agriculture sector.
Founded in 2013, Anterra manages more than $500 million across three funds and focuses on companies applying life sciences and software technologies to food and agriculture. The firm believes the $10 trillion industry can be transformed through existing infrastructure rather than rebuilt from scratch.
According to Anterra, structural pressures including margin volatility, food security concerns, climate and water constraints, tighter regulations and health considerations are reshaping the industry. At the same time, advances in vertical AI and biological research are creating new opportunities for software and life sciences companies to modernize traditionally fragmented and manual processes.
Fund III follows a volatile period for food and agriculture technology investing. After global investment in the sector peaked at nearly $52 billion in 2021, funding declined to approximately $16 billion, returning to levels last seen in 2016. Anterra said its investment strategy has remained focused on companies with strong unit economics and scalable business models.
The firm’s previous investments have included veterinary medicine company Invetx, which was acquired by Dechra Pharmaceuticals for more than half a billion dollars, along with multiple acquisitions and a Nasdaq IPO. Anterra also founded Enko Chem, which develops crop protection technologies and collaborates with companies including Syngenta and Bayer Crop Science.
Fund III has already invested in Anchr, an AI-native platform focused on modernizing back-office operations in food distribution, alongside Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun program. The fund’s second investment is Animerra, a veterinary biologics company created by Anterra.
Anterra’s investor base includes institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, food and agriculture operators and strategic industry participants across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
KEY QUOTES:
“The firm has now successfully navigated two capital cycles in food and agriculture. Each one rewarded the same discipline: backing companies that deliver real returns for their customers and to their investors. What’s different this time is that the real-world industries we operate in, large, complex and historically resistant to change, are now ready to be rewired, and the tools to do it have arrived.”
Maarten Goossens, Partner, Anterra Capital
“The vote of confidence from our investor base is what gives this close its weight. The combination of leading global asset managers, the institutions that know our sector backwards and the operators who farm millions of acres all backing the same thesis is an unrivalled force supporting the Anterra portfolio.”
Adam Anders, Partner, Anterra Capital
“We’ve spent twelve years and two funds proving you can build category-defining companies in food and agriculture, and generate real returns doing it. What’s changed is that the world has finally caught up to that thesis. The technology is here, the valuations make sense, and the founders building in this sector are the best we’ve ever seen. This is the most exciting moment in our firm’s history, and Fund III is how we intend to make the most of it.”
Brett Wong, Partner, Anterra Capital
