A new $50 million venture capital fund, the AgTech Innovation Fund is being organized in Davis, California. The fund, which will be structured as a limited partnership, will invest $250,000 – $500,000 in initial seed funds into promising ag tech companies and would be willing to make follow-up investments in those that become successful. Managing partners John Selep and Julie Morris state that now is an optimal time for investing in ag tech. Biotech company AgraQuest, founded by Pam Marrone in Davis was acquired by Bayer Crop Science for $425 million in 2012 and Ms. Marrone’s next company, Marrone Bio closed its first initial public offering netting $56.4 million for expansion. And recently BioConsortia raised $15 million of funding from Khosla Ventures and Otter Capital LLC. Once launched, the fund would consider investments not only in seeds and crop protection, but also in sustainability in global food systems, improvements to soil, water, and energy, and conservation.
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