April 28, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

301 INC, the venture arm of General Mills, is committing a combined $15 million to two early-stage venture capital funds dedicated to supporting food enterprises led by women of color as part of General Mills’ dedication to promoting racial and gender equality through economic opportunity.

These two vehicles will focus solely on food-related businesses aiming to catalyze systemic impact along with financial returns.

“We experience firsthand the expertise and passion of the diverse and female founders within our 301 INC portfolio, and yet there is a systemic gap for minority food entrepreneurs looking for early-stage venture capital funding,” said Doug Martin, chief brand and disruptive growth officer, General Mills.

Fearless Fund: Established by women of color, this vehicle has a mission to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for underrepresented founders. As such, it will invest at the pre-Seed, Seed, or Series A level in women-of-color-led scalable, growth aggressive companies.

Supply Change Capital: A women and Latina driven venture firm, Supply Chain Capital invests “at the intersection of food, culture, and technology” supporting early stage food and food tech founders that incorporate a focus on sustainability, health, and diversity.

“We’re excited to join forces with these amazing partners to uncover and accelerate more founders, at earlier stages,” said Martin. “Closing this gap means more great innovation in our food system — from new concepts to emerging food technologies — and more inclusive cycles of opportunity for entrepreneurs, companies and communities.”

Forty percent of new businesses in 2020 were launched by women, and of those launches, 47 percent were by women of color. And when examining the last decade, Latinos represented the fastest growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the U.S., growing by 34 percent, according to Stanford University, compared to only 1 percent for all other groups.

However, during 2020, funding for women and minorities actually declined, with only 2.6 percent of venture capital deployed as of August 31, 2020 landing with Black and Latinx founders, according to Crunchbase. 

Intention for 301 INC and General Mills includes using their expertise and scale to counter this, and bring greater equity in food access and representation. Since June 2021, when General Mills’ corporate venture capabilities were reorganized into a Disruptive Growth organization, approximately 80 percent of 301 INC’s investment dollars have been committed to minority-led or female-led food businesses, including Grub Market, Pet Plate, and Everything Legendary.

“Access to capital is one of the most prominent hurdles to women of color reaching their potential as founders, despite having an excellent track record in building successful businesses built on great ideas,” said Arian Simone, general partner and co-founder, Fearless Fund. “We are thrilled to grant General Mills investment dollars to women of color who are looking to cook up the next revolutionary culinary brand.”

“Food and food systems are at the heart of our culture and economy,” added Noramay Cadena, co-founder and managing partner, Supply Change Capital. “As the multicultural consumer population in the U.S. grows, we are focused on unlocking change in the venture ecosystem to infuse women and people of color with the capital they need to shape our future food landscape. We’re thrilled to have the support of General Mills in our network.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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