- California-based venture firm Finistere Ventures recently announced the closing of its new $150 million Agtech Fund called Finistere II
California-based venture firm Finistere Ventures recently announced the first closing of its new $150 million Agtech Fund called Finistere II. This fund focuses on new technology solutions in food productivity, sustainability, and nutrition for addressing the decreasing of agricultural land resources along with climate change and changing population demographics.
“We are excited by the promising technologies and companies in the Agtech space that need both capital and the strategic, technical, and operating expertise that we bring as partners and investors,” said Finistere Ventures co-founder and Partner, Arama Kukutai. “We are delighted to now have an aligned group of financial investors and strategic partners that includes Bayer CropScience supporting our efforts.”
Finistere is collaborating with Bayer CropScience, AVAC Ltd., and other partners for identifying and investing in world-class technologies across early-to-growth stage companies in the Agtech space.
“The timing for a new Fund coincides with the new wave of innovation needed to create the next Green Revolution in agriculture,” added Jerry Caulder, a leader in agricultural biotechnology and Chairman of Finistere Ventures. “By partnering with the expanding VC interest, we can build on the positive results we’ve had in this sector.”
Finistere started investing in agtech in 2005 and the firm has seen a pattern of increasing investor interest, including a diverse set of entrepreneurs and significant opportunities in commercializing the pipeline of science and technology funded by public investment around the globe.
The fund is primarily focused on North American opportunities. And the Finistere II Fund will invest in companies from ‘global centers of excellence’ in Agtech.
“The world faces difficult challenges to its food security with 9 plus billion people to feed by 2050,” explained Dr. Adrian Percy, Head of Global Research and Development at Bayer CropScience AG. “The investment with Finistere Ventures complements our vision for collaborating with others in delivering new innovation to growers to enhance yields necessary to provide access to safe and affordable food for this growing population and shifting tastes of consumers. As an innovation led company, we believe fresh approaches and technologies for our farmer community will be critical to meeting these challenges of tomorrow and look forward to seeing this effort come to fruition.”
One of the key features of Finistere’s international network of partners that include Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Israel — all recognized for their significant pipelines of Agtech related R&D and as major agricultural producers in their own right.
“We are partnering with Finistere to not only grow financial returns but to help leverage the major R&D investments being made in Canadian universities and institutions that need connections to the talent and ecosystems in the U.S. to flourish,” stated Dr. Michael Raymont, Chief Executive Officer of AVAC Ltd.
Canada has a track record of pioneering new technologies in crop and food. For example, Canola has grown to a crop that is planted in over 25 million acres in Canada alone.
And Finistere is also expected to announce collaboration agreements this quarter in Israel. Plus it is developing an Agtech pipeline strategy with support from research organizations in Australia and New Zealand.
Finistere is going to be operating from its established San Diego, California office and a new office in Palo Alto, California headed by its new partner Dr. Spencer Maughan, (formerly a Vice President at Venrock).
“Silicon Valley has become a major hub for new Agtech companies, and a more diverse group of investors. With California as the leading agricultural state by value and the biggest concentration of venture investing in the world, the prospects for investment in Agtech are ideal,” commented Maughan.
