Purple Ventures’ Post

Astanor Ventures, a global leader in sustainable agrifood investment, has announced a record-breaking fund size of €360 million for their second venture fund! 🎉 This achievement reinforces the StartLife Investor Partner's position in the industry with €800 million under management. 💸 The agritechfood sector has immense potential and resilience, especially in light of the renewed global attention on the climate crisis and the growing demand for sustainable solutions. 🌍 Astanor Ventures focuses on supporting early-stage, mission-driven companies addressing critical social or environmental challenges with cutting-edge technologies that drive sustainability and innovation. 👊 At StartLife, our mission is to drive sustainable innovation in agrifoodtech. We are proud to have Astanor Ventures as an Investor Partner, committed to driving sustainable impact in agrifood. 🙌 Read the full news here: https://lnkd.in/es87f3_F #agrifoodtech #agriculture #foodtechnology #innovation #sustainability #startups

🚀 Berlin-based Daato, a trailblazing ESG management platform, revealed that it has raised more than €5 million in a seed funding round. 💳 The lead investors in the round were IBB Ventures and kopa ventures (formerly Wi Venture) working with neosfer. 💡 Daato's goal to make ESG management effective, compliant, and informative for all businesses is made possible partly by this investment, representing a turning point in the company's history. Thilo Hitz Satya Kamal Anahita Thoms Dr. Kiri Trier Markus Löning Dr. Claus Beckenhaub Luis Sperr Benjamin Wochner Marlon Müller Clemens Kabel Cindy Adrienne Beckel Emil T. Anna Martselyuk Katharina Vogel Carolina Piattella Lisa Gerkens Carlotta Gemünd Milagros Gonzales Giulia Fumagalli #technicalbeep #ideasphere #startupspace #startup #eutech #venturecapital #tech #germany #berlinstartup #Daato #esg #sustainability #startupfunding #innovation #berlinstartups #enterprisesoftware #esgmanagement

California-based venture capital firm Acre Venture Partners (“Acre”) recently closed its new #agrifoodtech fund to enable a greatly improved food system. 💸 $140 million fund (Fund III) 💡Investing in #preseed to #seriesB companies creating fundamental change in #food and #agriculture in order to address large scale problems in human and environmental health. Infrastructure and technologies creating systemic changes in the following areas (i) Population health (ii) Planetary well-being (iii) Responsible production and consumption (iv) climate solutions 🌍 #UnitedStates 📈 Fund III already invested in exciting start-ups including Bonsai Robotics, Farm-ng, Highlight, People Science, Arado and Switch Bioworks. 💭 “We’ve been successful because we’ve had a real perspective on what qualifies as a venture investment and what doesn’t. And you have to really understand the system in order to do so, which is why new entrants struggle and why some of the generalists have left the sector.” - Lucas Mann, managing partner Acre 🗞️By Elaine Watson AgFunder https://lnkd.in/dwv9mg9K. 👏 For the #AudaciousInvestors unleashing innovation and empowering tomorrow🚀 Lucas Mann I Gareth Asten I Sam Kass I Alex B. I Maisie Kirn I Lynda Deakin I Jeffrey Dunn I Bill Helman I Team Acre … #venturecapital #vc #funds #startups #entrepreneurs #funding #tech #usa #entrepreneurship #technology #innovation #california #food #fund

Why you should apply for the 2024 SVG Ventures | THRIVE APAC Accelerator. This Accelerator program is my passion project and I believe it can be a catalyst for growth in the Australian and New Zealand AgriFood tech eco-system. Accelerators take a huge amount of work from all involved, so I want to give you some perspectives on what we're building and why you should consider applying. 🌉 We're building a bridge for Australian and New Zealand AgriFood tech companies, ready to scale into the US and Canada. Because our region builds some awesome and robust technology that deserves to be global. 🤝 We're connecting our accelerator co-hort to the biggest AgriBusiness corporates in the world, including Driscoll's, Valmont Industries, Inc., Corteva Agriscience, Western Growers and Kubota Corporation. They're looking for game changing innovation to trial, invest in and acquire. 🙌 We're providing the support, mentorship and peer group accountability to scale your business operations, product roadmap and team as you take the steps to break into these global markets. 💰 We're opening doors to our network of corporate and private investors globally and looking for the global companies for our SVG Ventures investment portfolio. We've designed this program to close the eco-system gap in the APAC region, to be the catalyst that brings our AgriFood Tech innovators to the world. If this program is for you or someone in your network, details and application are on the link below. 👇 ✍ Applications close Friday November 10th. - https://lnkd.in/g2_aGbzu

Venture Japan’s SBI Holdings commits $40M to anchor Novastar Ventures’ future funds Venture capital or financial support for startup and entrepreneur company, make money idea or idea pitching for fund raising concept, businessman and woman connect lightbulb with money dollar sign. Image Credits: Getty Images SBI Holdings, a Japanese financial services conglomerate and one of the largest venture capital firms in the East Asian country, has made a $40 million multifund commitment to anchor Pan-African VC firm Novastar Ventures’ future funds. The commitment is the first direct investment by the Tokyo Stock Exchange–listed company into a VC in Africa. Its subsidiary SBI Investment has already made in-roads into the African startup ecosystem by investing in Apollo Agriculture, Mono, the now-defunct WhereIsMyTransport, Hakki Africa, and Kepple Africa, a VC fund. Following the deal, SBI Holdings will take a minority stake in Novastar and get a non-executive seat in its board as SBI’s adviser in Africa. Riki Yamauchi joins Novastar’s investment team to ensure that the set partnership objectives are met. SBI Holdings has pledged to rally other Japanese institutional investors to match its investment in Novastar, as interest in Africa from the East Asian country grows. Commenting on the partnership, Yoshitaka Kitao of SBI Holdings Inc. said: “With its rapid growth, young and tech-savvy population, abundant natural assets and increasing urbanization, Africa is poised for global leadership on sustainable development.” “We recognize Novastar as the leader in African VC and look forward to building a new, trusted bridge between Japan and Africa for financial and strategic investment, knowledge transfer and innovation learnings. This partnership will leverage Africa’s megatrends for the mutual benefit of Japanese investors and African businesses,” said Kitao, who serves as SBI Holdings’ representative director, chairman, president and CEO. The new commitment comes at a time when Novastar is raising its third pool, The Africa People + Planet Fund, which aims to close at over $200 million to invest in the agriculture and climate solutions sector. Novastar will back startups offering services that enable access-to-market and resilience in the face of climate change for the many clean techs that help decarbonize the growth envisioned for the continent, and climate techs that “protect biodiversity, improve soil health and capture carbon.” Novastar sees value in a partnership with SBI Holdings as it raises its latest fund to back agriculture and climate startups, and plans to co-invest in future deals. “Together with SBI, we see an opportunity to harness Africa’s development path to planet-positive, inclusive business models that leapfrog the polluting practices of the past and set us on track towards a sustainable and just future.

We are proud to announce the successful final close of AC Ventures' fifth fund, with strong support from both existing and new limited partners (LPs), including institutions such as The World Bank’s IFC - International Finance Corporation and other esteemed global investors from the US, the Middle East, and North Asia. Returning LPs have played a key role by contributing over 50% of the funds, resulting in institutional capital now constituting over 90% of the total. In recent years, AC Ventures has increased its emphasis on sustainable impact alongside high financial returns. The firm has prioritized companies that deliver not only strong economic value but also environmental and social impact. Illustrating this, the firm’s Fund III delivered an overall net impact ratio of +37% as measured by The Upright Project in Finland. This ranks AC Ventures and its portfolio above the Nasdaq Small Cap Index (NQUSS) average of +29%. ACV Fund V has already started deployment and has announced investments from the new fund including leading rounds in Indonesian electric vehicle manufacturer MAKA Motors, sustainable farming startup Koltiva, and more. The firm differentiates itself in ASEAN by providing hands-on value-creation services to its portfolio companies. Its value creation team plays a key role in steering startups toward growth, innovation, and sustainable success. 💡Learn more via TechCrunch: https://lnkd.in/eTmAG9_z Pandu Sjahrir, Adrian Li, Michael S., Helen Pei-Hua Wong #acventures #fundv #sustainableinvesting #impactinvesting #esg #indonesia #southeastasia

In the often VC-fundraise obsessed environment that Tractor Ventures operates in, one obvious way to build our brand and increase the number of companies that we fund is via the financial storytelling - how to use $1 of debt funding such as ours to return multiple $$ without dilution etc etc. Been banging on about this for a few years now, and that will just continue on as the message continues to land. In Aus and NZ, debt as a funding instrument is very nascent compared to overseas ecosystems where it has been accessed for decades. But the other, also obvious one, is truly simple. Difficult to coordinate sure, but 'makes sense.' That is: Storytelling. Showcasing the different types of financial decision-makers that access debt funding for their various purposes and utilise it in their own way to generate ROI without dilution. Smart operators, clever way of business-ing, and who feel some affinity with our Tractor brand. If they're agreeing to the interview, I guess they are happy with their personal Tractor experience, and that fits with our little throwaway byline: 'Here for a long time, not a loan term.' When the addressable market for Tractor gets raised, profiling stories such as these can be more eye-opening and start to illustrate all the opportunities for our continued growth and expansion. What was once believed to be a funding vehicle for B2B SaaS companies has certainly changed over time. So too has some misguided beliefs that venture capital funds *those companies* and debt funds *these companies* In certain scenarios, the two can go hand in hand. And just the same way that VC won't fund a majority of companies, Tractor's debt is for a certain type of company that is revenue-generating AND running sustainably, and that's an important factor to continue to reinforce. Whilst we do say no plenty, we say a very quick no, and that is always appreciated. So, we will be rolling out a number of stories upcoming c/o Stephanie Palmer-Derrien interviewing and myself curating. Very much looking forward to showcasing what a 'tractor' is, which based on these first articles, would be: 🚜 E-Learning Creation Tool 🚜 Real Time Media Monitoring 🚜 Full Service Innovation Studio 🚜 Renewed Goods Social Enterprise 🚜 Remote Monitoring Agriculture Tech 🚜 Reimagined House Rental Experience 🚜 Luxurious Skincare and Aromatherapy 🚜 Underground And SubSea Inspections 🚜 Environmentally Friendly Period Products And seeing as this batch are based in Auckland and Brisbane and Byron Bay and Melbourne and Sydney and Wellington, I think that's a good indicator that the brand-building and awareness is doing the thing its meant to do. Nice 😎

Asia-focused venture capital company Gobi Partners released its third annual Sustainability Report. Gobi Partners stated that the report reveals substantial ESG milestones achieved from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Gobi continues to advance its circular economy, diversity, equity, and inclusiveness, and TaqwaTech ESG sectors. “This ESG year marks a pivotal moment in our journey, moving from simple surveys to tangible measurements of fund performance through rigorous analytics, “While our initial reports laid the groundwork for our ESG philosophy, this report stands as a testament to our dedication to lead the charge in driving measurable impact investments throughout Asia,” Gobi Circular Economy and ESG Head Carlo Chen-Delantar said. Gobi started a data-first pilot programme with 23 portfolio companies using a data measurement platform. This technique has helped Gobi and its founders analyse each company's ESG principles and given investors more visibility into their investments' ESG journeys. Gobi implemented an ESG strategy that covers all investing steps to improve company policy. The company formed an independent advisory board of professionals to advise it. Gobi adopted extensive policies, tools, and actionable practices, such as its ESG Repository, and #educational and training programmes to encourage portfolio firms to operate more responsibly. Gobi promoted DEI involvement internally, resulting in 57 percent gender-diverse investments, a balanced male-to-female employment ratio in the Greater Bay Area, and 58 percent female senior management. Creating a circular economy investing philosophy has helped find sustainable prospects. To create an inclusive workplace, the company has improved internal processes and HR management to speed employee procedures and encourage professional development. Gobi launched its Green Procurement Policy to promote environmental sustainability in addition to competent procurement policy training. The company adopted sustainability accounting principles board principles to integrate environmental sustainability into investment choices. Asia-focused venture capital firm Gobi Partners manages $1.6 billion. The Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong-based #organisation helps enterprises thrive in emerging and underserved regions. Since 2002, Gobi has created 19 funds and invested in 380 startups, including over 60 circular economy startups. Gobi now has 15 locations in Bangkok, Cairo, Dhaka, Ho Chi Minh, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, Manila, Singapore, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Surabaya. Gobi Partners stated it aligns its strategy and operations with universal human rights, labour, #environment, and anti-corruption principles to create long-term value and sustainability across its portfolio as a UN Global Compact partner. To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.org #GobiPartners #Sustainability #VentureCapital #Enviornment #Development

In the heart of every startup lies a story of determination, courage, and the quest for pre-seed funding. Join us on a journey with Emily, a visionary entrepreneur determined to revolutionize the food industry, as she navigates the thrilling world of early-stage investment to bring her sustainable farming app to life.So let's begin the journey of Emily Once upon a time, in a bustling city teeming with entrepreneurial spirit, there lived a young visionary named Emily. Emily had a brilliant idea that she believed could change the world—an innovative app designed to connect local farmers directly with consumers, promoting sustainable agriculture and healthy eating. Excited by the potential of her idea, Emily embarked on her entrepreneurial journey. Armed with little more than a laptop and boundless enthusiasm, she dove headfirst into the world of startups. But as she soon discovered, turning her idea into reality would require more than just passion—it would require funding. Undeterred, Emily set out to raise the necessary capital to bring her vision to life. With no track record or revenue to speak of, she knew her venture was too early-stage for traditional investors. Instead, she turned to pre-seed funding—a form of financing designed for entrepreneurs like her, who were still in the embryonic stages of building their business. Emily pitched her idea to friends, family, and early-stage angel investors, sharing her vision for a more sustainable and equitable food system. She painted a vivid picture of the app's potential impact on local communities and the environment, capturing the imagination of those who shared her passion for change. Despite facing countless rejections and setbacks along the way, Emily remained steadfast in her belief in her idea. She refined her pitch, honed her storytelling skills, and tirelessly networked with potential investors, determined to secure the funding she needed to bring her vision to fruition. Finally, after months of persistence and perseverance, Emily received her first pre-seed investment—a modest sum from a supportive family friend who believed in her vision. Buoyed by this vote of confidence, she continued to hustle, leveraging her initial investment to attract additional funding from a network of angel investors and early-stage venture capital firms. With the funds secured, Emily set to work building her team, developing her app, and laying the groundwork for her startup's launch. Despite the inevitable challenges and uncertainties that lay ahead, she was filled with optimism and determination, knowing that she was one step closer to realizing her dream of creating a better world through entrepreneurship. And so, with grit, resilience, and a little bit of pre-seed funding, Emily's startup journey began—an inspiring tale of passion, perseverance, and the power of believing in oneself to change the world for the better. So that's called Pre-seed funding. #sharktankindia #investing #funding

📢 Granatus Ventures Invests in the Seed Round of Sparxell to Support Development of Sustainable Pigments   Granatus Ventures invested in the seed round of Sparxell, a UK-based developer of high-performance, sustainable, plant-based pigments. Other investors in the round are The Circular Innovation Fund, of which L’Oréal Groupe is an anchor investor, SpaceX-backer Future Communities Capital, sustainability-focused investor PDS Ventures, impact investor Katapult, and biotech and consumer sectors investor Joyance Partners.    "As a University of Cambridge spin-out, we were delighted to connect with Granatus Ventures through the Cambridge ecosystem. Granatus shares our ambition to make a meaningful contribution to the sustainability of our planet and I look forward to working with the Granatus team as we scale our impact.” said Dr Benjamin Droguet, Sparxell Founder & CEO.    "Sparxell's innovative plant-based pigments offer a compelling solution to the environmental challenges posed by traditional chemical colorants. With their pioneering approach and potential for widespread adoption, we are excited to support Sparxell in its journey towards a more sustainable future. We believe the connection with the Armenian ecosystem will enhance the talent access and the growth potential of Sparxell” said Yervand Sarkisyan, the Co-founder and Partner at Granatus Ventures.    About Sparxell:  Sparxell was founded in 2022 by Cambridge scientists, led by Dr Benjamin Droguet and Professor Silvia Vignolini, who discovered ways to replicate vibrant colours in nature using fully plant-based cellulose, a renewable, biodegradable resource that can be extracted from waste streams. Sparxell’s pigments use the same material that many plants and animals use to produce vivid, durable, and fade-resistant colourants. The products are toxin-free and fully biodegradable with a colour intensity that lasts longer than traditional colourants and pigments on the market.   About Granatus Ventures:  Granatus Ventures is the first venture capital firm to back startups worldwide that leverage Armenia’s potential as an emerging technology hub. Granatus pursues problem sets within the UN SDG framework and focus on fundamental human challenges rather than the business of convenience. It aims to positively impact the future of humanity by applying pioneering deep-tech solutions such as artificial intelligence, advanced computing, data sciences, biotechnology and robotics for maximum scale.