Changing the flows of capital is key to transforming our food system. Investors play an important role in getting new ideas off the ground and supporting ecosystem development. If you are a startup, ;istening to interviews with VCs you’re targeting to fundraise from is a great way to get to know their investment thesis and focus areas before you pitch them.
Gullspång Re:Food
Re:food is part of Gullspång Invest, a Swedish family office that operates with an evergreen structure. This means that they can invest for the long term without posing time constraints. Located in Stockholm and San Francisco, Re:Food invested early in some of the most successful food companies that have come out of the Nordics so far like Oatly and Nick’s. The firm focuses on investing across four themes: alternative proteins & fats, regenerative farming, sustainable supply chains, and healthy diets. In this episode, Re:Food’s Co-Founder Gustaf Brandberg shares the company’s investment thesis, background, and vision for the future food system.
Creandum
Creandum was an early investor in many of the most well-known and successful Nordic companies including Spotify, Vivino, Klarna, and Kahoot. In today’s episode, we are speaking with Carl Fritjofsson who runs the San Francisco office serving as a bridge to Creandum’s European founders as their companies expand into the US. Join us as we discuss how this tech VC is investing in the future of food and how European startups should be considering internationalization. See full show notes here.
Maersk Growth
1/3 of the world’s food is wasted. Maersk Growth, the VC arm of Maersk Group invests in startups that are addressing inefficiencies in supply chains, particularly to fight food waste. In this episode, we look at how Maersk is investing in the future of food based on data, structure, and transparency. See full show notes here.
PINC – Paulig Incubator
Paulig Group is a Food & Beverage company with brands in 13 European countries, a turnover of almost 1 billion euros, and around 2,000 employees. Their portfolio consists of Santa Maria, Risenta, Gold & Green, and PocoLoco along with Paulig coffee. PINC stands for Paulig Incubator and was launched in 2018 for them to invest in the future taste. In this episode, we explore their investment thesis for a tastier, healthier, and more sustainable planet. See full show notes here.
Nordic FoodTech VC
Lauri Reuter is a scientist-turned-investor and a founder and partner of the Nordic Foodtech VC, which invests explicitly in Nordic and Baltic early-stage tech companies that are renewing the global food system. Lauri holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology and worked previously as a Researcher and Senior Specialist of Disruptive Technologies at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. He is a part-time urban beekeeper and passionate about building a radically sustainable food system for this planet – and the next one. Find full show notes here.
Almi Invest
Almi Invest is Sweden’s most active startup investor. With 3 billion SEK under management, they make about 50 new investments each year and have invested in 660 companies overall, some of which have been acquired by Google, Microsoft, and Apple or IPOed at a billion kroner level on the stock market. Join us as we speak with investment manager Karin Ebbinghaus about Almi’s GreenTech fund, which only invests in companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Find show notes here.
Vækstfonden
Vaekstfonden is the Danish State’s investment fund. Since 1992, they’ve funded over 9 thousand companies with investments amounting to more than 4.4 billion euro. Eric-Alan Rapp is a partner at Vækstfonden focused on FoodTech companies. In this episode, we explore how Vaekstfonden is investing and thinking about the future of food. Eric-Alan and I also discuss why connecting on values is key for finding the right investor and the future of Denmark as a leader in meat and dairy. Find full show notes here.
Hatch Accelerator
Aquaculture is the farming of fish. As the fastest growing sector in animal food production, the industry has started to attract the interest of Silicon Valley. This might also be because aquaculture is some 20 years behind traditional agriculture in terms of development leaving it ripe for innovation. Carsten Krome is the Managing Partner of Hatch, the first global aquaculture accelerator program operating across Norway, Hawaii and Singapore and an investor into aquaculture with the fund Alimentos Ventures. Carsten provides an excellent intro the world of aquaculture. Find full show notes here.
Coop Crowdfunding
Nicolai Jæpelt is the Project Leader for Coop Crowdfunding. Coop is one of the largest supermarket chains in Denmark and is run as a cooperative with approx. 1.8 million members. The supermarket has created a crowdfunding platform where members can invest in early stage food initiatives they believe in. We cover how startups get on Coop’s shelves, why this new pathway is so interesting, and what consumers are investing in. We also chat about how to make a successful food crowdfunding campaign and why the platform has become a trend spotting platform for other purchasers. See full show notes here.