New York-based FoodShot Global announced the launch of a new investment platform aiming at accelerating the transformation of the food system, which will be led by former Obama-administration official, Sara Eckhouse; former CEO of Rabobank North America, Rajiv Singh; and Chicago-based venture capitalist, Victor Friedberg (an investor in Beyond Meat and Apeel Science).
Structured as a non-profit investment platform, FoodShot Global links a consortium of global investors including Rabobank, Generation Investment Management, Mars Edge, UC Davis Innovation Institute for Food and Health, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Builders Initiative, Armonia, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, ACRE, The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Path Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and the Soil Health Institute.
Together with its partners, FoodShots will invest up to $10 million in equity and $20 million in debt financing to innovative food and ag startups through an annual challenge called “Moonshots for Better Food” that will create a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable global food system.
“As we strive to feed a growing population while protecting the planet, a perfect storm has emerged creating an urgent need for change. But no one fund, bank, company, foundation or university can solve global food system issues alone,” said Victor Friedberg, founder and chairman of FoodShot Global. “FoodShot’s goal is to accelerate change through a uniquely collaborative effort among investors, innovators, and industry.”
Each year FoodShots will select a particular challenge – this first year’s challenge is Innovating Soil 3.0 . Applicants with the most promising technologies, ideas, projects, science and engineering to catalyze solutions to mitigate soil deterioration and create a new soil operating system will be chosen for backing.
Why 3.0?
FoodShots sees a need for a third cycle to the soil system in order to feed and sustain the planet. The first cycle (1.0) was the beginning of soil as a mixture of organic and minerals that was the basis for the advent of agriculture. The second (2.0) was the addition of synthetic fertilizers and industrialized farming methods that while improving global food security, cannot maintain the soil’s nutrient integrity. FoodShots is looking to develop a third soil cycle (3.0) that can result in systemic change that can meet the demands of a growing global population and ease the pressure on a resource constrained planet.
Drilling down, FoodShots will be looking for startups focused on input efficiency, improved crop resilience, the reduction of deforestation, carbon sequestration, and those involved in advances in biology, genetics, chemistry, big data, sensors, blockchain, and robotics.
“All too often, important work is done in silos that fail to leverage collective brain power, financing and capacities for scaling,” said Rajiv Singh, former CEO of Rabobank North America and co-chairman of FoodShot Global. “FoodShot turns that archetype on its head, bringing together a breadth of partners that, collectively, can better cultivate innovation for the longer time horizon needed to truly revolutionize food and agricultural systems.
Those selected for the challenge also will be given access to FoodShot’s supportive partner network which will provide guidance, mentorship, and capacity-building resources for reaching maximum scale and impact. Meanwhile, FoodShot’s hybrid capital model will allow for longer investment time windows for projects and startups that require a longer horizon to achieve their goals.
“Achieving systemic change in the global food system means taking big risks—approaches that are radically new, not just incrementally better,” said Sara Eckhouse, FoodShot’s executive director. “We’re looking for those bold ideas, innovative companies, and groundbreaking organizations that can shift the paradigm.”
Additionally, each year FoodShots also will award a “Groundbreaking Prize” of $500,000 in philanthropic capital to researchers, social entrepreneurs, and advocates making real change in the year’s chosen challenge.
-Lynda Kiernan