Investment Climate

Episode 85: Sprout Agritech: Sandhya Sriram on New Zealand’s massive government match-funding and escaping the Agri-Food VC winter

In this episode, I sit down with Sandhya Sriram, CEO of Sprout Agritech, a premier startup accelerator and early-stage investor based in New Zealand. Sandhya—a stem cell scientist and serial entrepreneur turned investor—explains how Sprout leverages heavy New Zealand government backing to radically de-risk pre-seed investments. We discuss their unique funding structure, which pairs private equity with $750k in non-dilutive government match-funding, making New Zealand one of the most capital-efficient ecosystems on the planet. Currently raising a new $55M–$60M NZD fund to expand across the APAC region, Sandhya reveals why they act more like co-founders than traditional VCs, actively handing research scientists their first corporate pilot customers, and why she is aggressively rebranding their thesis away from "Agri-Tech" to "Deep Tech."

Key Facts Sprout Agritech:
Goal: To act as "smart connected capital" for deep tech innovation across the Agri-Food value chain, bridging the gap between academic research and commercial pilot runs.
Milestone: Currently raising a new $55M–$60M NZD fund to expand APAC investments, building on a fully deployed $40M fund that saw 14 investments and two exits (including one 8x return).

Episode 84: Maia Ventures: David Bassani on Italy's "Untapped" AgriFood Market and the Private Equity Exit Strategy

In this episode, I sit down with David Bassani, Founding Partner of Maia Ventures, an Italy-based VC fund rapidly approaching its €60M hard cap. David details why he believes the Italian ecosystem is severely underfunded despite Agri-Food accounting for 15% of the nation's GDP. He reveals how Maia acts as a powerful bridge, bringing global AgriFoodTech startups to Italian corporates while simultaneously taking localized Italian innovation to the world stage. We also unpack David's highly contrarian strategy: dedicating a specific portion of the portfolio to "traditional" businesses with strong EBITDA (like their sous-vide vegetable company, Capellini) to explicitly target early Private Equity buyouts rather than relying solely on the elusive FMCG corporate acquisition. 🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear how a cold intro from a fellow VC led to their first US investment in the GLP-1 space (Lombos) and why Maia Ventures refuses to fund CapEx projects.

Key Facts Maia Ventures:
Goal: To invest globally in Seed-stage AgriFoodTech startups focusing on health, efficiency, and resiliency, while acting as a strategic bridge to the Italian corporate and CDMO ecosystem.
Milestone: Currently managing €55M with a final close of €60M targeted by the end of the year; writing initial checks between €500K and €1.5M.

Episode 83: The Footprint Firm: Jonas Ahm-Lundgren on the Hybrid VC-Advisory Model and the Art of the Hard Pivot 

In this episode, I sit down with Jonas Ahm-Lundgren, Partner at the Footprint Fund, which recently announced the first close of their €76M pre-seed and seed climate tech fund. Jonas breaks down their highly unusual structure—operating a venture fund under the same roof as a major sustainability advisory firm—and how this "army of smart folks" gives them an unfair advantage in corporate networking and due diligence. We dig into their investment in Octarine Bio, detailing how the founders executed a brilliant hard pivot from medical psilocybin to bio-based colorants for textiles and food. Jonas also explains why tackling deeply fragmented, high-pollution markets like textile dyeing requires a 12-year fund structure and an immense amount of founder resilience. 
🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Jonas's "whaling ship" analogy for venture capital and why startups should never ignore unsolicited inbound interest from Fortune 500 companies.

Key Facts The Footprint Fund:
Goal: To invest €0.5M to €2M checks in early-stage climate tech companies across Northern Europe, prioritizing deep impact aligned with massive financial returns.
Milestone: Closed a €76M debut fund backed by a highly condensed roster of top-tier Danish LPs, including Novo Holdings, Northeast Family Office, and the Danish government fund EIFO.

Episode 82: Evergreen Select: Jim Miller on Big Pharma execution, 3D scaffolding, and the Hybrid Meat strategy 
In this episode, I sit down with Jim Miller, President and CEO of Evergreen Select, a cultivated meat company that has raised roughly $55M to date, backed heavily by lead investor S2G. Jim brings over 30 years of Fortune 500 biotech and Big Pharma execution (including COVID vaccine commercialization) to the cultivated meat sector. He breaks down why Evergreen abandoned complex plant-based hybrid blends in favor of a direct "drop-in" strategy: blending their 100% lean, non-GMO cultivated beef biomass directly with traditional ground beef. We dive into the science behind their 3D bovine scaffolding that allows them to harvest solid chunks instead of a liquid slurry—achieving massive titers north of 350 grams per liter—and how they are positioning their product as a hedge against the volatile spot prices of the traditional beef industry. 
🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear Jim’s masterclass on extreme board transparency and why daily scrums are vital for startup survival.
Key Facts Evergreen Select:
Goal: To supply meat processors with a highly scalable, non-GMO cultivated lean beef biomass that blends seamlessly with traditional ground beef to stabilize costs and supply.
Milestone: Successfully raised ~$55M to date (with a recent $8M injection) while advancing regulatory dossiers for commercialization in both the US and Singapore.

Episode 81: Doen Ventures: Tom Doornik on the Regenerative Economy and why VCs are wrong to ignore Consumer Brands

In this episode, I sit down with Tom Doornik, Investment Associate at Doen Ventures, an Amsterdam-based early-stage impact VC backed by the Doen Foundation. Tom walks us through their thesis on the "regenerative economy" and why they write €350K to €700K pre-seed and seed checks for both B2B enabling tech and B2C sustainable brands across the Benelux, DACH, and Nordic regions. We dive deep into their recent investment in Koppie, a Belgian startup creating a single-ingredient coffee alternative from fermented legumes. Tom explains how Koppie bypassed the heavy CapEx trap by seamlessly integrating into existing coffee supply chains and CDMOs, allowing them to compete on price immediately amidst massive global coffee supply shortages. 
🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear how Tom navigates the regulatory labeling challenges of alternative coffee and why Doen Ventures actively seeks out impact-driven FMCG brands.

Key Facts Doen Ventures:
Goal: To invest in the "regenerative economy" (from regenerative agriculture to the blue economy), focusing on restoring harm done to the planet rather than just incremental resource efficiency.
Milestone: Actively managing a portfolio of nearly 70 investments and deploying €350K to €700K initial checks (with multi-million follow-on capacity) across Northern Europe.

Alex’s Top Findings: 
The Ultimate CapEx Hack: Supply Chain Interoperability. Doen Ventures didn't just invest in Koppie for the science; they invested because the commercialization path was hyper-efficient. Koppie's legume-based coffee alternative utilizes standard off-the-shelf roasting machinery and downstream CDMOs. By acting as a seamless "drop-in" product, they avoid the multi-million dollar VC death trap of building a proprietary factory, keeping their unit economics at true price parity. "They don't need to build their own factory or production line. They can work with existing parties that have the machinery to get production going. And I think for the phase they're in, that's a huge advantage because... it lowers CapEx requirements, therefore funding requirements. And it just makes the whole funding play way easier."
The "Systemic Change" LP Structure. Because Doen Ventures is part of a foundation, they aren't bound by traditional GP/LP return pressures that force VCs to chase quick SaaS multiples. This allows them to focus purely on "systemic change." They define impact not just as resource efficiency (doing less bad), but true regeneration—actively restoring degraded soil health and relieving the ecological pressure caused by the global coffee supply chain. "We don't have a very typical GP/LP structure. We have money that is aimed at realizing systemic change... The way we look at impact is regeneration, meaning how can we actually restore or regenerate the harm that we have done over the years."
The Contrarian Bet on B2C Consumer Brands. While the vast majority of FoodTech VCs are currently running away from consumer brands (favoring B2B ingredients), Doen Ventures is actively leaning in. Tom highlights that systemic change requires mass consumer adoption, and dismissing brands as mere "marketing wrappers" ignores the necessary reality of actually selling the transition to the end-user. "We're really looking for consumer brands as well. I think for many investors, there's quite some doubts or hesitancy about brands, seeing them more as marketing wrappers and we actually see them as a very valuable tool to drive impact because in the end you need to convince consumers."