Cape Town’s Naspers Ventures Makes U.S. Investment Push
Naspers Ventures, a 101-year old South African-based venture capital firm, expanded into the United States in recent months, tapping VC veteran Mike Katz to spearhead the effort. With a pipeline of potential deals, and a strong balance sheet from which to invest with zero reliance on outside capital, Naspers, whose U.S. office is located in Si
Read moreAg-Tech Funding Falls Amid Broader VC Pullback
Venture capital funding in the agtech market slowed in 2016, falling by 30 percent to $3.2 billion versus 2015 levels, and interrupting three consecutive years of rising investments, according to AgFunder, a San Francisco-based online investment platform for agtech. The pullback, which hit bioenergy, drone technology, and food delivery star
Read moreFarmLogs Chief Talks Investment, Expansion and Commodities
Ann Arbor, Michigan-based, FarmLogs has begun 2017 having realized multiple achievements including raising its largest funding round to date of $22 million in a Series C, bolstering its influence to more than one-fifth of U.S. row crop acres under management, and expanding its footprint with a new office in Des Moines, Iowa. Jesse Vollmar, F
Read moreCommStream – Helping Bridge the A$9B Capital Gap in Australian Agriculture
Australia’s first agricultural streaming company, CommStream Capital, is in a strong position to benefit from the increasing demand from Australian farmers actively seeking growth-orientated finance models to fund expansion, on-farm infrastructure, new technologies, and innovation. Until recently, banks and traditional debt funding have b
Read moreClean-Tech Startup Raising Series B to Detox Farm Production
Thymox, a clean technology company dedicated to animal health, crop protection, and environmental disinfecting, is determined to replace “bad chemicals” used in agriculture with non-toxic and environmentally-friendly alternatives. Investors are on-board, and have returned to back the Sherbrooke, Quebec-based startup in a Series B round as
Read moreMidwestern Dairy Farmers Hunting Margin Could Spur M&A
The past couple of years have delivered blockbuster deals in the agriculture sector, however, consolidation is not limited to only the major players. In recent weeks, dairy cooperatives Prairie Farms Dairy and Swiss Valley Farms unveiled plans to merge, creating a combined entity that is expected to generate $3 billion-plus in annual sales. An
Read moreInteresting Times for Ag Investing: How Agtech is Transforming the Sector
Agribusiness is a young asset class. Back in 2002, when Pampa Capital started fund raising to invest in this sector, Ag Investing was on nobody’s radar. Today it is a relevant class given the surge in commodity prices, its negative correlation to inflation and growing concerns about food production and water usage in the context of current d
Read moreThe Ten Rules for Investing in Agriculture
For anyone considering an investment in agriculture, there are some critical considerations to be taken into account. Based on over 15 years of management experience and building a portfolio of over $400 million invested in Australian agriculture, Growth Farms Australia has put together what we believe are the ten key rules that investors need
Read moreOp-Ed: Ranch Land – An Overlooked Investment Opportunity
Many agricultural producers, like myself, have come to the realization that we do not need to own the land we work. In today’s capital-intensive agricultural operating environment, our Balance Sheets can be significantly strengthened by reducing long-term debt associated with land ownership. We can re-deploy our capital traditionally tied-up
Read moreThe Case for More Genomics Start-ups in Agriculture
Expert commentary from Finistere Ventures' Spencer Maughan: A VC friend of mine recently told me about his new fund and the investment areas of interest. Not surprisingly, genomics was one of the hot areas. As a geneticist and investor, I’m pleased to see the interest. However, when I asked about genomics in agriculture, he told me that
Read more
