By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Toronto-based InvestEco Capital announced the final close of the InvestEco Sustainable Food Fund III at $100 million.

With the announcement of the close, the firm also announced the addition of new institutional investors Farm Credit Canada, BDC Capital, Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Vancity, who join the fund’s lead investors, The Co-operators and Export Development Canada and a range of additional family offices, foundations, and individuals.

“At FCC, we support all sectors of the Canadian agriculture industry and we believe Canadian farmers produce food in a safe, humane and sustainable manner,” said Rebbecca Clarke, VP and treasurer, FCC. “That’s why we are a proud investor in InvestEco’s Fund, which will contribute to the success of innovative companies operating in Canada’s dynamic and growing sustainable food industry.”

“The decision to participate in the InvestEco Sustainable Food Fund III went without saying for Fondaction, as we share the same objectives,” said Geneviève Morin, CEO, Fondaction.

“Our goal is to finance and support innovative businesses that promote healthy eating and make local products even more widely available in our markets and online.”

Fund III has two predecessors – all of which continue the firm’s mandate of investing  in expansion-stage, high growth companies across Canada and the U.S. that foster sustainability and promote health and sustainability in the food sector.

InvestEco’s first sustainable food fund was launched in 2012 with a total of $11.5 million in capital commitments.

“It was a small fund, but we managed to find some excellent investments,” said Andrew Heintzman, managing partner, InvestEco. “We are excited to be able to continue our work of partnering with talented entrepreneurs to help grow their companies, but now on a larger scale.”

With Fund II the capital commitments grew, as The Co-operators, a Canadian co-operative with more than $40 billion in assets under management, made an undisclosed significant investment in July 2016. 

“We are committed to impact investing because we believe that our invested assets can and should not only help us meet our organization’s financial targets, but also our goal of making communities healthier and more sustainable for future generations,” said Bruce West, executive vice-president, finance and chief financial officer at The Co-operators at the time. “We hope that our investment in the InvestEco Sustainable Food Fund II will serve this dual purpose of achieving financial as well as social and environmental returns.”

Four months later, Meritas SRI Funds joined The Co-operators with an undisclosed investment of its own. From this capital pool, InvestEco has invested in and partnered with many leading sustainable food brands across North America including Vital Farms, Mama Earth Organics, Maple Hill Creamery, Le Grand, NadaMoo, and Lesser Evil, among others. 

“We are delighted to receive the support of so many leading institutional and impact-focused investors,” said Alex Chamberlain, managing partner, InvestEco. “With this new Fund we are also excited to be able to grow our team at InvestEco and add new skill sets and experience that will improve us as we strive to generate strong financial returns while also helping to build a healthier and more sustainable world.”

This sentiment was echoed by Alison Nankivell, vice president, Fund Investments and Global Scaling, BDC Capital, who said, “Canada’s food industry is a global leader and BDC Capital is focused on supporting high growth Canadian food companies operating at the nexus of innovation and sustainability.”

Adding, “We are pleased to be supporting InvestEco Sustainable Food Fund III which is targeting innovation in this important segment of the Canadian economy.”

 

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.