ISRAEL – Finistere Ventures, a global agri-food investment leader in collaboration with three Israeli companies have created one of the largest consortia looking to invest US$100 million in the country’s foodtech start-ups.
The venture capital has partnered with venture investor OurCrowd, Tnuva, Israel’s largest food manufacturer, and Tempo Beverages, the leading Israeli beverage company.
The partnership will help Israeli entrepreneurs gain direct access to leading global food and beverage giants such as PepsiCo, Bright Food, Heineken and Nutrien.
It will focus on promoting innovation in alternative proteins and nutritional value improvements, functional ingredients as well as supply chain efficiency.
The partners will be bidding to operate an innovation incubator, established by Israeli government in Northern Israel focused on foodtech.
“Israel has become a top innovation hub in the FoodTech and AgTech arena,” said Co-Founder and Partner at Finistere Ventures Arama Kukutai.
“We are committed to expanding our local partner network and, most importantly, increasing our investment in, and support of, Israeli disruptors across the entire food and ag value chains as they look to penetrate the global market.”
OurCrowd boasts of US$1 billion in commitments and investments in 170 companies and funds including Beyond Meat.
Finistere Ventures on the other hand is a global US$150 million fund dedicated to investments in agrifood technologies and supported by investors such as AVAC, Bayer, Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund, Nutrien, PepsiCo, and Unigrains.
Entrepreneurs will gain access to OurCrowd’s extensive Israeli startup power including a community of 30,000 registered investors from over 180 countries and Finistere’s global network of the leading agrifood investors, accelerators/incubators, and public research institutions.
“FoodTech is now one of the hottest dishes on the Israeli innovation menu,” said OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved.
“When four innovation master chefs Finistere, OurCrowd, Tnuva, and Tempo get together to cook and create the newest companies the results are going to be scrumptious.”
The consortium will provide entrepreneurs with expertise in technology development and due diligence, team building, business development, seed and Series A investment strategies, and the production and marketing of food.
