July 31, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

Natural Ventures, an impact-driven investment firm with offices in the UAE and the Netherlands, has announced the first close of its inaugural fund with $100 million in commitments. The fund’s roster of anchor investors includes Germany’s Helm AG, Swiss-based family office Chemovarteq and a strategic UAE investor amid a fund strategy that addresses food and water security globally. Natural Ventures has selected Maples Group as the fund administrator of the Natural Ventures Fund I LP, a 10-year, closed-end fund.

Maples Group’s Fred Tabbal, regional head of fund services for the Middle East, stated, “We are privileged that Natural Ventures has selected the Maples Group as its fund administration partner for this groundbreaking fund. Impact investment is an asset management segment with global implications for the future, and we are excited to partner with a fund that is looking to effect such positive change.”

Fund managers will take an impact-driven approach with a view to support a more sustainable future and stable climate through high-tech solutions. In alignment with this mission, the fund is domiciled in Abu Dhabi and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), where despite its arid climate the UAE capital plays a critical role in global food and water security.

With the global population set to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, coupled with an uptick in extreme weather, access to clean water is a global issue. Meanwhile, the UN estimates that 2.4 billion people are living in nations that are water stressed, or where water demand outpaces supply, including places like the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Africa’s Sahel region. Given that close to three-quarters of the world’s freshwater supply is used in agriculture applications, ag innovation is looked to for solutions to the challenges that food and water security face.

The timing of the fund close coincides with the recent launch of the the AgriFood Growth and Water Abundance (AGWA) cluster by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. AGWA, a hub for innovation around sustainable technologies dedicated to the production of food and water, is overseen by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO.

Natural Ventures is targeting the acceleration of the “transition to a more sustainable, healthy and economical food and water supply” by “addressing challenges of climate change, population growth, and the transformation of water and food system,” per the announcement.

Natural Ventures Managing Partner Mark Jenkins stated, “As an impact-driven team, Natural Ventures welcomes our exceptionally strong strategic investors and leading agtech and water industry partners to our collaborative investment model. Our combined strengths and alignment of purpose are striking as we look to invest in exceptional management teams with innovative solutions to solve global issues of water and food security.”

The fund has clinched a pair of strategic partnerships with local agtech firms including AgBioScout, an advisory firm, and Isle Utilities, an innovation consultancy specializing in the commercialization of emerging technologies in the water and environmental sectors.

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