In an economy where consumers are increasingly more aware of the benefits to healthy eating, a newly established food and agriculture venture fund, Seed 2 Growth Ventures (S2G), is focused on assisting ventures that meet the demands for “healthy, sustainable and local food,” according a press release.
“We’re seeing tectonic shifts in the food industry that consumers are driving. People want better tasting, more nutritious, healthy and sustainable food. The problem is our existing food system is designed to produce cheap calories, and it is not designed to supply healthy, sustainable and affordable nutrition at scale,” Victor Friedberg, S2G Ventures co-founder and managing director stated. “This provides a great opportunity for innovators and investors, and S2G is seizing the opportunity.”
Currently the S2G fund has $125 million in deployable capital and operating funds and it is the largest of its kind in the U.S. Friedberg is joined by Chuck Templeton, former CEO of OpenTable, and Sanjeev Krishnan, a career investor who focuses on venture and growth companies, in the creation of this venture.
The S2G leadership team discussed the fund at the recently held New York Times Food for Tomorrow Conference, where Friedberg presented the companies mission to gain momentum through entrepreneurs providing health food that consumers are interested in.
S2G is concentrated on soil health and sustainable land management, organic, non-GMO and other -identity’ produce and commodities, and IT platforms that increase access to this healthy food, among others.
The S2G venture has already paired with companies such as ShopWell, a digital platform for personalized food recommendations that improve nutrition, and Shenandoah Growers, a brand for live and fresh cut herbs.
The venture’s investment strategy is titled “soil to shelf” and hopes to ensure an innovative approach to support the changing food industry.
“This $1.4 trillion sector is undergoing massive change and is under-invested with risk capital,” says Krishnan. “We think our approach of understanding the system from -soil to shelf’ is a unique and proactive way to create value, minimize risk and feed the changing consumer.”
