September 14, 2023

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

As part of its transition to full co-operative ownership, Tirlán, the leading farmer-owned food and nutrition business in Ireland, announced the launch of the Tirlán Nurture Fund with seed funding of €10 million (US$10.65 million). 

With an aim to identify and scale innovative agrifood tech solutions, the fund will target early stage, innovative, and sustainable tech investments that back solutions contributing to the increased efficiency and sustainability of the supply chain, while also benefiting Tirlán, its farmer suppliers, and the broader community. 

“Tirlán is a vibrant, ambitious and innovative business committed to being at the forefront of sustainable dairy and grains into the future,” said Jim Bergin, CEO, Tirlán.

“We see the potential of investing and scaling start-ups that tap into Tirlán’s core strengths and will drive value in the food and nutritional science solutions area through both innovative technologies and research and development in functional ingredients, food safety and traceability, packaging, animal health and sustainability.”

Bergin continued, “These activities will create additional value streams for our organization, and will aim to improve, modernize and make more sustainable Irish and global food supply chains for the future.” 

First referred to as the “Agtech island” by venture capitalist Kieran Furlong in 2017, Ireland continues to carve out its place as a leader in the space. For a country of only 5 million people, Ireland is home to eight of the top 10 U.S. tech companies, and 16 of the top 20 software companies in the world. 

“Ireland isn’t as developed as Israel yet regarding Agtech startups, but based on the research being carried out here it can catch up,” said Furlong in a 2017 interview with Think Business. “I think Ireland’s location – (i) in the EU and (ii) as a bridge between Europe and North America – offers it an advantage over places like New Zealand.”

By 2022, the sector in the country demonstrated year-on-year growth of 13 percent, according to data from Enterprise Ireland, which is working with the AgriTech Cluster at Munster Technology University to accelerate growth for the industry. 

And even though agtech startups in the country are faced with certain headwinds, including high costs of electricity and inputs, the sector as a whole is aiming to double in size vis-a-vis the number of people employed and sales data over the course of the next 10 years. 

Nathan Trust noted in July 2022 that agriculture employs 8.6 percent of Ireland’s workforce, supporting the country’s agricultural and food exports valued at EUR 11.15 billion (US$12.65 billion). The country accounts for 10 percent of the global powdered milk supply, and with farmers that are at the fore of adopting new technologies, is a global leader in tracking the genomic sequence of its 30 million cattle. 

The country’s vibrant pool of talent and a robust pipeline of scientific innovation being conducted at a range of research institutions attracted California-based agtech venture pioneer Finistere Ventures to launch its €20M Ireland AgTech Fund (IAF) to bridge California’s Silicon Valley with Ireland and the EU. 

“We are expanding from the Silicon Valley to the Silicon Docks,” said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner at Finistere Ventures, in 2017. “Ireland has become a hotbed for tech companies and is a prime location to serve as a beachhead into the European Union for leading AgTech innovators from around the globe.”

Today, Tirlán adds a new investment platform that it stated will allow it to bring to bear its existing food manufacturing and nutritional science expertise to the task of identifying and scaling very complex and new solutions that address the challenges being faced in nutritional innovation, sustainability, and the technological spheres. 

“Our Co-op has a long heritage of being at the forefront of innovation. As part of our transition into full co-operative ownership, we highlighted the potential of the creation of an investment fund that would complement the Tirlán business,” said John Murphy, chairperson, Tirlán.

“As industry leaders, Tirlán believes there is a significant opportunity for the development and adoption of disruptive technology solutions that contribute to increased efficiency, sustainability, and innovation for our farmers, our community, and our company that will transition us towards more sustainable, less resource-intensive food systems.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief 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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