New York-based impact investor Acumen is said to be setting up a $1.5B agritech fund that will target investments in the developing world, especially to subsistence and small-scale farms that account for 30% of the world’s food production, according to a Bloomberg report.
Acumen intends to contribute $300M to the effort and secure an additional $1.2B of co-financing, in a program that CEO Jacqueline Novogratz told Bloomberg would support and protect 600 million small-holder farms “disproportionately impacted by climate change,” and boost climate financing for small-scale farms which currently receive only about $2B annually.
Novogratz said its upcoming fund is expecting support from both new and existing partners. It plans to mobilize captured capital and deploy investments, ranging from pre-seed, seed, to growth stage equity, into 100 startups across Pakistan, India, West and East Africa, and Latin America, that would technologically enable increased yield and profit for 40 million farmers.
Acumen has facilitated investments and fundraisers on sectors spanning agricultural, educational, healthcare, energy, and workforce development. Per its website, it has deployed $260M in capital and supported 215 portfolio companies since its founding in 2001.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-11/us-impact-investor-targets-agritech-startups-with-1-5-billion?cmpid=BBBXT111124
