Biobased, agrifood & biotech funding: specialized funds.

In a nutshell

Anyone working on biobased materials, sustainable chemistry, agrifood or biotech will rarely find a match with generalist tech VCs—this article brings together the funds that do invest in these fields.

When should you use this article?

• Your technology is a material, ingredient or process, not software or a platform.
• Your application is in crop protection, food packaging, food preservation, biobased chemistry or agriculture.
• You have a public co-investor (e.g. PMV / Flanders Future Tech Fund) that requires private co-investment and you are looking specifically for private parties with sector expertise.

V-Bio Ventures (Ghent)

• URL: https://www.v-bio.ventures
• Location: Pieter van Reysschootlaan 2/104, 9051 Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Ghent)
• Founded: 2015
• Assets under management (as stated on the website): €186 million across 2 funds
• Stage: early and mid-stage
• Focus (as stated on the website): life sciences, with an emphasis on therapeutics—drug discovery and drug development
• Deal flow: preferred relationship with research institute VIB, supplemented by other research institutions and spin-offs
• Contact: info@v-bio.ventures

Note: the website explicitly describes the focus as therapeutics. For agrifood or materials innovation without a therapeutic component, this fund is therefore less obvious than its location in Ghent might suggest. Check the portfolio before pitching.

Capricorn Partners—Chemistry Fund / Sustainable Chemistry Fund (Leuven)

• URL: https://capricorn.be/en/capricorn-sustainable-chemistry-fund
• Legal name: Capricorn SCF ("Capricorn Chemistry Fund" is a commercial name)
• Size: €86.5 million in committed capital; fundraising completed in December 2018
• Stage: early to growth stage, significant minority stakes
• Focus (as stated on the website): technologies that reuse, recycle or reduce the consumption of natural resources—ingredients for food and feed, materials and chemical products made from renewable resources or through sustainable processes
• Geography: mainly Europe and North America
• Contact: proposals@capricorn.be · Lei 19, 3000 Leuven · +32 16 28 41 00

Note: the "Capricorn Chemistry Fund" page states that this fund's investment period has closed. For new proposals, Capricorn Cleantech (green chemistry, circular economy, carbon neutrality) is the appropriate channel. Capricorn also manages Capricorn Digital, Capricorn Health, Capricorn Fusion and Quest for Growth.

SHIFT Invest (Amsterdam)

• URL: https://www.shiftinvest.com
• Location: Vliegtuigstraat 6G, 1059 CL Amsterdam
• Stage: early-stage
• Focus (as stated on the website): impact investor focused on climate and nature; themes include food & agriculture, green industries, energy and mobility
• Geography: Europe
• Pitching: via the "Get funded" page (shiftinvest.com/getfunded)
• Contact: info@shiftinvest.com · 020 3032071

Rubio Impact Ventures (Amsterdam)

• URL: https://rubio.vc
• Location: Plantage Middenlaan 45, 1018 DC Amsterdam
• Assets under management (as stated on the website): 250M
• Stage: early-stage growth capital
• Themes (as stated on the website): People Power (social cohesion: wellbeing, education, inclusion) and Planet Paradise (the net-zero transition in energy, industry and agrifood)
• Distinctive feature: 100% of performance fees are linked to externally validated impact targets; 40 active investments
• Pitching: via rubio.vc/funding (with their investment criteria)
• Contact: info@rubio.vc · +31 20 362 7207

Also relevant elsewhere in the knowledge base

• Biotope Incubator—early-stage biotech incubator/investor focused on planetary health, €250k cash + €100k in-kind.
• Qbic—inter-university seed and early-stage fund for spin-offs, including biotech and deeptech.
• Impact Shakers—impact ecosystem and investor.
• WE ARE HEY—AgTech network (not a fund), offering end-to-end support and access to investors in its network.
• Angels & VC's by ticket size (VLAIO Venture Capital Database)—filterable database for building your own longlist.
• PMV Winwinlening—tax benefit for individuals who lend to your company; lowers the threshold for private tickets from your own network.

Practical tip

Funds regularly change their thesis, fund size and investment period. Always check the source page and recent portfolio before pitching: a fund that has closed its investment period no longer writes cheques.

Links

• V-Bio Ventures: https://www.v-bio.ventures
• Capricorn Partners: https://capricorn.be/en/channels
• SHIFT Invest: https://www.shiftinvest.com
• Rubio Impact Ventures: https://rubio.vc