Backing category-defining companies in the green transformation
of the food system

Based on the best available science, we invest in high growth companies driving food system sustainability and strong financial returns.

We partner with outstanding and committed management teams that have established product-market fit (usually >20 million USD) and a clear pathway to profitability. We look for businesses with an emerging structural competitive advantage, which could be demonstrated through differentiated technology or special customer or supply relationships. A compelling sustainability case as outlined in our Food is Solvable framework is fundamental to our investment thesis.

We primarily focus on companies headquartered in North America and Europe. We typically invest 10-20 million USD of preferred equity initially, taking a lead or co-lead role with board representation.

Great leaps bring greater returns; we seek paradigm shifts, not incremental solutions

The green transformation of our food system is one of the greatest investment opportunities of the 21st century. With the agri-food sector representing about 12% of global GDP, there’s vast potential for both strong financial returns and meaningful sustainability gains.

The $1 trillion worth of food wasted or lost globally each year underscores the huge value to be unlocked. Factor in carbon sequestration, healthier ecosystems, less farmland for more and better food, and better public health, the opportunity only grows.

Based on our science-based Food is Solvable framework, we invest in high-growth companies that build new, more sustainable value chains. These ventures have the potential to become category-defining leaders, delivering robust financial returns while driving lasting, positive impact on the planet.

Our investment focus areas

Sustainable supply chains

Revalorize resources in shorter and circular supply chains that minimize lost nutrients, material, and energy

Healthy diets

Revitalize health with nutritious, delicious, and personalized diets preventing disease

Sustainable proteins and fats

Rethink where delicious, economically scalable, and resource-efficient proteins and fats come from

Healthy soils

Redesign farming practices and technology to improve our soils' capacity, health, and productivity

We partner with companies creating the regenerative era
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Our Impact Report

Find our sustainability-related disclosure here

Sustainability-related disclosures

Publications

November 13, 2024

Upcycled Food: Making the most of what we already have

In recent years, upcycling has emerged as a promising avenue to combat food waste, offering innovative ways to turn discarded food into new products. As the global population grows and resources become scarcer, finding solutions to food waste is essential. Upcycling addresses the problem by repurposing food that would otherwise be wasted, creating triple benefits of reducing environmental impacts, improving food security, and creating value from waste. However, while the potential benefit is vast, the journey toward widespread production and adoption of upcycled food faces significant practical challenges. During 2024 Gullspång Re:food, Novax, and PolarVentures collaborated on project Stardust to map global technologies for upcycling with Nordic side streams.

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November 7, 2024

Food is Investable: Here's how

Read our report, Food is Investable, on why venture capital, private equity, and infrastructure funds should consider agrifood in their investment strategies. Despite the agrifood sector’s critical role in sustaining life and driving 12% of global GDP, it punches below its weight in capital allocation. In 2023, agrifood was only 2% of private equity’s total assets under management and received only 5.5% of global venture capital. From a climate perspective, it’s even more underinvested. Agrifood emits 26% of GHG emissions but attracts just 1.3% of climate-focused private capital. This is concerning, given the sector’s potential for massive impact and financial returns. Food Is Investable, developed with ADAM Partners, gives you a Treasure Map as an overview of relevant investment segments in agrifood across different asset classes.

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August 30, 2024

Controlled Environment Agriculture: Opportunities and Challenges for Investors

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA): a few years ago, Vertical Farms was one of the hottest segments for food & ag venture investors. Companies like Bowery Farms and AeroFarms closed late-stage growth rounds with hundreds of millions of dollars of VC funding, AppHarvest went public at $1bn+ valuation via a SPAC merger, and global scale seemed all but inevitable for the segments’ leaders. However, as inflation and interest rates rose in 2022 and 2023, investors turned away from the sector, and companies began to struggle and even go bankrupt. The narrative shifted. Now, profitability is at the top of investors’ minds, not growth, and questions remain about the fundamental viability of the space. We dug into the segment to understand where value might lie today.

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June 7, 2024

The Sweet Revolution: Exploring Sugar Replacements for a Healthier Future

In a world where sweet treats are almost impossible to resist, the overconsumption of sugar has become a significant public health issue. Linked to numerous health problems that impact a quarter of the global adult population, sugar is more than just an indulgence—it's a health hazard. We don’t need to go completely sugar-free – limiting sugar intake to the World Health Organization's recommendation of less than 10% of total energy intake, with further benefits from reducing below 5%, would significantly reduce the negative impacts of sugar-induced health and dental diseases. However, average sugar consumption is about 22kg per year, which is twelve times higher than the 5% recommendation – and it is rising. Breaking the sugar habit is easier said than done, but don’t despair just yet. With sugar replacements, it is possible to create indulgences to die for that don’t kill us.

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April 26, 2024

Greening Ammonia Production: There are No Silver Bullets in Systems Transformation

The production of synthetic ammonia, a precursor to nitrogen fertilizer, generates two tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per ton of usable ammonia and is responsible for 1-2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, greening this production process could benefit industries beyond agriculture. However, there are negative impacts associated with nitrogen fertilizers that green ammonia does not address, and we must be cautious that ammonia production doesn’t become a red herring in the sustainable fertilizer transition. We dug into the green ammonia space and summarized our key findings and takeaways.

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March 6, 2024

Save the Bees: Harvesting Insights from our Deep Dive into Pollination Tech 

Pollinators are essential to the food system, but modern agricultural practices threaten wild pollinators and domesticated honeybees alike. Innovative startups are addressing this with smart technologies in an attempt to guarantee our future food supply. But do any of these innovations hold promise? We did a deep dive to find out. Read on for some more background information, three insights from our research, and our thoughts on the future of pollination. 

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September 7, 2023

Our Theory of Transformation

When pioneering startups secure backing from seasoned, long-term investors with experience in crafting robust businesses, they have the potential to reshape entire value chains radically and become category leaders in a more sustainable industry. When those same investors build an investment approach that incorporates deep research and systems thinking, and invest in companies at multiple systemic leverage points, they have the potential to transform entire industries and even the global economy.

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April 24, 2021

The Re:food circle

We developed The Re:food circle as a framework defining the boundaries and ethical foundations of a sustainable food system to help guide transformative investments.

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