Flora Ventures has announced the launch of an $80 million fund and its first closing with investments of $50 million, making it the “largest Agrifood VC” in Israel.
Flora is a venture fund that invests in early-stage start-ups from leading agrifood ecosystems in Israel and Europe. The company says it aims to build a healthier, more sustainable and resilient agrifood system by supporting start-ups to scale globally.
“The fund’s model is unique in that it is the first VC fund to tap the world’s ‘original’ innovative agriculture pioneers – the Israeli Kibbutzim – as anchor investors and partners,” said a company statement.
The company was co-founded by Gil Horsky, former Mondelēz executive and corporate venture investor, and Esther Barak-Landes, VC investor and co-founder of Nielsen’s incubator and investment arm. Having secured funding in just four months, Horsky and Barak-Landes aim to address tech gaps in issues such as food security, digitisation, sustainable agriculture and the concept of ‘food as medicine’.
The raise was completed with top-tier strategic partners including Sadot Kibbutzim, a cooperative that brings together 185+ Kibbutzim with an agricultural output of more than $3 billion exported to over 100 countries. Such partnerships provide Flora with access to agricultural land, production capabilities for initial proof of concept and the ability to scale technologies.
In addition to Sadot Kibbutzim, Flora’s investors include the Haifa Group, a company specialising in plant nutrition and fertilisers, and Harel Group, Israel’s largest insurance and finance company.
Barak-Landes commented: “I’ve been fortunate in my career to lead important VC deals in the retail-tech, fintech, and digital transformation sectors, which enables me to reapply proven technologies and business models to the agrifood industry where it is greatly needed”.
She continued: “I am excited to bring my skills to finding and fueling start-ups from Israel and Europe that are good for people and kind to the planet while helping to build the next generation of agrifood unicorns”.
Horsky added: “Working for leading food multinationals, as well as co-founding one of the industry’s most successful corporate venture capital and incubation initiatives in Mondelēz, taught me the value of having design partners early on. That’s why we are excited that Flora can provide our start-ups proprietary access to Haifa Group, Sadot Kibbutzim and Harel Group, which are among the most innovative and agile design partners in the industry.”
Flora recently completed its first investment in Arrakis Bio, a “stealth-mode Israeli startup, developing a breakthrough technology poised to revolutionise the production and utilisation of human collagen and gelatin that is animal free, high quality and pure”.
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