AMSTERDAM & BOSTON--(뉴스와이어)--Anterra Capital (“Anterra”), the international food and agriculture specialist venture capital firm, today announced the initial closing of its second food and agriculture technology fund, Anterra F&A Ventures II, raising $175 million, exceeding the targeted size of the fund. Due to the positive market reception for the fund’s mission and strategy, Anterra is tracking towards an upsized second fund, and anticipates a final closing in the third quarter, 2021.

Anterra’s unique investment approach has attracted commitments from a prestigious and aligned group of long-term oriented global investors, with continued support from Eight Roads Ventures, backed by Fidelity, and Rabo Investments, the captive investment arm of the largest global food and agricultural bank out of the Netherlands - Rabobank. New investors include Novo Holdings, a leading global life sciences investor based out of Denmark; Tattarang, one of Australia’s largest private investment groups and the holding company of the Forrest family’s private business interests; as well as other well-respected family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and state-owned investors that provide a global presence, spanning across multiple continents.

Anterra’s mission is to invest in and partner with entrepreneurs transforming our vital food economy through biotech and digital innovation across crop science, animal health, and human nutrition. As a research driven, value-focused specialist investor Anterra uniquely combines a traditional venture investment approach and “venture creation,” building and scaling transformative businesses with its deep industry knowledge and vast global network as a pioneer in the space. While investor interest is growing in the Food & Ag industry, early-stage investment in this essential segment significantly trails that of other key industries, for comparison, less than half of that in Pharma & Biotech (~$40 billion) and about a fifth of venture investment in Software (~$100 billion).

“The food economy is in critical condition, and new digital and biotech solutions are desperately needed in order to support better outcomes for farmers, consumers and the environment,” said Adam Anders, Managing Partner of Anterra Capital. “With the first close, we continue our mission to sustainably transform our food economy, building on our leadership position as an early-stage investor in markets such as plant and animal health, while actively expanding our investment activity across the food and agriculture value chain.”

Daniel Auerbach, Senior Managing Partner and Global Head of Eight Roads Ventures, one of Anterra’s original lead investors, added: “Within Food & Ag, Anterra sits at the intersection of life sciences and digital technology and our expanded investment reflects our confidence in Anterra’s mission, leadership and performance for us over the past eight years.”

“We are excited to partner with Anterra and support the fund’s transformational mission, which is aligned with our investment activity across the biotech space overall, and emphasizes our commitment to investing in innovation within Food & Agriculture,” said Kartik Dharmadhikari, a Partner of Novo Growth within Novo Holdings.

About Anterra

With offices in Amsterdam and Boston, Anterra Capital is an international specialist venture capital investor dedicated to financing the growth of technology-driven companies with incredible potential in food, agriculture, and animal health. Supported by multinational institutional investors, Anterra provides patient strategic capital to entrepreneurs and innovative companies sustainably transforming our global food system. Further information: www.anterracapital.com

About Eight Roads Ventures

Eight Roads Ventures is a global investment firm backed by Fidelity. Eight Roads Ventures manages $7bn of assets across its offices in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, UK and the US. Our 50-year history of investing includes partnerships with over 300 companies such as Alibaba, AppsFlyer, BlackDuck, Chewy, Devoted Health, Flywire, Icertis, iPipeline, Kensho, Letgo, Made.com, Neo4j, Nuance, Paidy, Ping Identity, Pony.ai, PharmEasy, Shadowfax, Toast, Wallapop, WuXi PharmaTech, and Xoom. Further information: https://eightroads.com

About Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings is recognized as a leading international life science investor, with a focus on creating long-term value. As a life science investor, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies and takes significant ownership positions in growth and well-established companies. Novo Holdings also manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets. Further information: http://www.novoholdings.dk

About Rabo Investments

Rabo Investments is Rabobank’s PE investment franchise. It has invested over €1.5 billion worldwide within the cutting-edge Food & Agri, Sustainability, and Healthcare sectors in the Netherlands and within the Food & Agri sector worldwide. The investments range from growth capital for innovative start-ups and scale-ups to investments in established companies and funds. Further information: https://raboinvestments.com

About Tattarang

Tattarang is one of Australia’s largest private investment groups and is owned by the Forrest family. Its diverse investment portfolio spans across agri-food, energy, resources, property and lifestyle. The group is made up of six business divisions including Harvest Road which is one of Australia’s largest and most diverse agricultural businesses with an expanding portfolio of high-quality foods. Further information: www.tattarang.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210629005357/en/