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Finistere Ventures EVAC

Finistere Opens $150M Agtech Fund

February 27, 2015

California-based Finistere Ventures announced that it opened a new agtech fund targeting $150M, in collaboration with Bayer Cropscience, AVAC and other partners. The Finistere II Fund will focus on identifying early-to-growth stage companies, focused on new technology solutions in sustainability, food productivity, and nutrition.

Finistere was founded in 2005, and has been an early investor in the agtech. It operates in three sectors – life science, IT, and sustainability – and has made ag related investments in each. In response to growing investor interest and the diversity of entrepreneurs now operating in agtech, Finister, along with its partners, determined now is the right time for it.

“The timing for a new fund coincides with the new wave of innovation needed to create the next Green Revolution in agriculture,” said Jerry Caulder, Chairman of Finistere Ventures. “By partnering with the expanding VC interest, we can build on the positive results we’ve had in this sector”.

In setting up this Fund, Finistere has been building an agtech ecosystem to support its investments. Not only will the Fund provide companies with capital, but it is also bringing on partners and investors that can provide strategic, technical and operating expertise. Bayer Cropscience, one of the announced partners, will be collaborating closely on opportunities that deliver new innovations in crop yields.

The Fund will be primarily focused on North American opportunities, but it also plans to invest in companies from ‘global centers of excellence’ in agtech, including Israel, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition to its San Diego office, Finistere has established a new office in Palo Alto, to be closer to Silicon Valley investors and entrepreneurs, a nod to Silicon Valley, which has recently become a hub for agtech deal activity.

Verdex Capital, AVAC’s Ag Tech arm, will oversee the Canadian arm of the Fund.

“We are partnering with Finistere to not only grow financial returns but to help leverage the major R&D investments being made in Canadian universities and institutions that need connections to the talent and ecosystems in the U.S to flourish,” said Dr. Michael Raymont, Chief Executive Officer of the Calgary-based investment firm AVAC.

In next few months, Finistere expects to announce collaboration agreements with key players in Israel. Australia and New Zealand related announcements are planned further down the road.

View official release.

 

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