By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media
Big Tech is increasingly muscling its way into the ag industry. The Cisco Foundation, which was gifted by networking giant Cisco Systems in 2021, has rebranded its climate investments program as the Regenerative Future Fund as it seeks to redefine its impact in climate investing.
At the onset, the Cisco Foundation committed a whopping $100 million to be deployed over a decade to fund innovative climate solutions. It has split the earmarked funds so that $50 million supports non-profit grants that support climate and social impact, while the other $50 million will be directed toward equity and debt investments in early-stage climate startups raising Seed to Series A rounds, as well as venture funds.
Now the foundation has refined its impact investment program approach in response to a one-two punch of accelerating climate challenges and intensifying natural disasters. Cisco will now focus on transformative, venture-backed technologies and solutions, serving as the catalyst for the fund’s rebranding as the Regenerative Future Fund.
Cisco’s strategy is three pronged, the first focus of which is on innovations that replenish biodiversity, support ecosystems and advance circular and regenerative economies. Secondly, it will prioritize the benefits of both climate equity and inclusion, supporting solutions that reflect resilience and equity in communities facing climate risks. Lastly, the fund seeks to catalyze “lasting change” by investing in innovation that drives sustainability in industries, including regenerative agriculture.
Cisco said its fund seeks to strengthen solutions in regenerative agriculture to enforce the climate resilience of soil, farmlands and farmer systems to extreme weather events, pointing to investments in the likes of Trailhead Capital. The Cisco Foundation is included in a lineup of backers in Boulder, Colorado-based Trailhead Capital’s $50 million regenerative food and ag fund (Trailhead Capital Managing Partner Pete Oberle recently spent time with GAI News.
Jocelyn Matyas, who spearheads Cisco Foundation’s Regenerative Future Fund, stated, “As I witness our portfolio grow from a vision of what could be to standing today with over 25 investments worldwide (and still half of the fund yet to be deployed!), there is deep pride not only of the climate action and innovation we are supporting but also the community we are building.”
Cisco is relaunching its climate program now for several reasons, chief among which is a change in the financing landscape. In 2023, over two-thirds (69 percent) of climate tech deals leaned heavily toward early-stage companies, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 14 percentage points, per CB Insights. Since then, the climate tech startup financing landscape has evolved, including a decline in equity investments, paving the way for new forms of non-dilutive capital. Meanwhile, debt financing for climate tech has risen from $13.9 billion in 2021 to a whopping $45.6 billion last year as startups make the transition from venture capital to bank loans and alternative funding sources, per Net Zero Insights data.
Cisco’s $100 million, 10-year commitment to a regenerative transition through grants and impact investments has stirred excitement in ag circles, leading to industry partnerships with the likes of One Acre Fund in Africa, Mad Agriculture in the U.S., myAgro in West Africa, and soil analysis innovator Miraterra.
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