- FLORA Ventures™ Launches $80M Fund Backed by Tier 1 Investors to Invest in Sustainable Agri-Food Tech Startups
- Innovative investment model partners with kibbutzim to prototype and test emerging technologies on a global scale
TEL AVIV, Israel, July 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FLORA Ventures™ announces the launch of its $80 million fund and its first closing with $50 million commitments, making it the largest agri-food venture capital fund based in Israel. Also, according to IVC data, it is the largest new Israeli VC fund to have completed a first close during 2023 across all tech investment verticals.
FLORA Ventures invests in startups from two of the leading agri-food ecosystems, Israel and Europe, which are building a healthier, more sustainable and resilient agri-food system; and supports these companies in their global expansion.
The fund's model is unique in that it is the first venture capital fund to draw on the world's “original” innovative agriculture pioneers, the Israeli kibbutzim, as lead investors and partners.
The co-founders of FLORA Ventures are Gil Horsky, a former Mondelēz executive, corporate venture investor and leading figure in the global agri-food ecosystem, and Esther Barak-Landes, a renowned venture capital investor and co-founder of the Nielsen incubator and investment arm. They secured funding in just four months by identifying an opportunity to fill technology gaps such as food security, digitization, sustainable agriculture and food as medicine.
They completed the initial collection with top-level strategic partners, such as Sadot Kibbutzim, a cooperative that brings together more than 185 kibbutzim with an agricultural production of more than 3,000 million dollars exported to more than 100 countries. They offer the fund's portfolio proprietary access to farmland, production capabilities and experience for initial proof of concept and the ability to scale up their technologies.
Some of the other main investors in FLORA in this first closing are major family offices and:
Haifa Group – world leader in plant nutrition and specialty fertilizers. The company's efforts in sustainability, innovation and precision agriculture, along with 18 subsidiaries worldwide distributing to more than 100 countries, make it an optimal partner in helping FLORA start-ups build go-to-market capabilities.
Harel Group – Israel's largest insurance and financial group, with more than $100 billion in assets under management. This gives FLORA access to a top-tier financial and institutional investor who can provide support and follow-on investments to the fund's portfolio companies.
Gil Horsky and Esther Barak-Landes say the COVID-19 tipping point, the Ukraine war and the climate crisis underscored the urgency for a fund like FLORA Ventures to accelerate innovation and impact in the $8 trillion agri-food industry.
They seized the opportunity to create the fund by leveraging their complementary skills and networks: Horsky's global leadership experience at multinational food companies such as Mondelēz, PepsiCo and Kraft Foods, and Barak-Landes' proven track record of investing in disruptive tech start-ups, including leading the early rounds of what became publicly traded unicorn tech companies such as Payoneer, Amwell and Playtika.
"In my career I have been fortunate to lead major venture capital deals in the retail technology, fintech and digital transformation sectors, allowing me to re-apply proven technologies and business models in the agri-food sector, where it is sorely needed. I am excited to bring my knowledge to find and drive start-ups in Israel and Europe that are good for people and kind to the planet, while helping to create the next generation of agri-food unicorns," said Barak-Landes.
"Working for leading multinational food companies, as well as co-founding one of the industry's most successful corporate venture capital (CVC) and incubation initiatives at Mondelēz, taught me the value of having design partners early on. That's why we're excited that FLORA can offer our start-ups proprietary access to Haifa Group, Sadot Kibbutzim and Harel Group, who are among the most innovative and agile design partners in the industry," said Horsky.
FLORA Ventures has now completed its first investment in Arrakis Bio, a stealth-mode Israeli start-up developing breakthrough technology poised to revolutionize the production and utilization of pure, high-quality, animal-free human collagen and gelatin.
For more information visit www.floravc.com
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