Binyamin Ali
The French asset manager could hit its €300m hard-cap if it continues fundraising, says president and CEO Michel Chabanel, but will instead prioritize launching its buyout and senior debt vehicles.
The firm has had an action-packed 12 months since its entry into ag with MIRA’s acquisition of Vitalharvest, the launch of its own dedicated ag fund and a merger with Centuria Capital Group.
Fitch Solutions study cites government policy, M&A activity and than 2,500MW worth of agrivoltaic projects in the planning or construction stages as tailwinds for the sector.
Teachers’ Innovation Platform has grown to amass a C$3.7bn portfolio since it was launched in 2019 and made its first agtech investment in mid-June when it led a $226m Series B for Motif FoodWorks.
The firm is close to fully divesting its 2008-vintage Agri-Vie Fund I, while its $146 million successor vehicle is now close to being fully deployed.
The Lithuanian firm has reached the halfway mark towards its €100m target for the 2020-vintage vehicle, which will invest in the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe.
The $750m vehicle follows the same buy-and-build strategy of its $433m predecessor and is likely to attract LPs from Europe and the Middle East as well as North America.
The vehicle will invest in 10 venture capital funds across food and ag, production and mobility in North America, Europe and Asia.
Debt commitment to ETG will allow the agricultural conglomerate to strengthen its food value chains which support more than 550,000 smallholder farmers in Africa alone.
The British fund manager anticipates strong interest in the vehicle, which will combine returns from commercial forestry, carbon credits and asset appreciation.