Swanlaab launches Agri-Food Tech Fund, the first major venture fund specialized in innovation in the agri-food sector

The Swanlaab AgriFood Tech Fund is at the forefront of valuing a sector as strategically important to Spain as the agri-food industry, a sector that leads in technological innovation both in Europe and globally.

This fund is established with the purpose of bringing innovation to life in new competitive products and services, enabling the agri-food sector to meet the demands of the market and the significant global and local challenges it faces. The adoption of innovation and technology in the agri-food production and industrial sector is evident and growing, with increasingly agile technology transfer processes to the industry, both from research and development institutions and technological startups in the sector. However, the development of this innovation in agri-food does not have sufficient investment volumes to generate value throughout the growth and development stages of these companies.

Swanlaab AgriFood Tech, which will begin operating at the end of 2023, will invest in around twenty Spanish startups. "Spain is a superpower in the Agri-Food sector and stands out for its innovation capacity. These factors, combined with Swanlaab's commitment to invest in and support companies from the concept testing stage, through validation phases and market entry, create a winning formula to promote and professionalize innovative Spanish projects until their business consolidation, competing in international markets," says Mark Kavelaars, Managing Partner of Swanlaab Venture Factory.

In terms of size and the quality of its team, Swanlaab AgriFood Tech is a pioneering fund that aims to position Spain as a reference in the innovation of the agri-food sector: "We are talking about investments with technological and economic impact that showcase Spain's high-value agri-food innovation generation capacity. We have the right characteristics and capabilities to become a development and validation powerhouse, positioning technological solutions to economic, production, social, and environmental challenges in the market," states Xana Belastegui, General Partner of Swanlaab AgriFood Tech.

Swanlaab Agri-Food Tech is already identifying technologies and products of interest in the national entrepreneurial ecosystem that target various links in the agri-food value chain. From primary production (with innovation applied to inputs, agricultural practices, or cultivation systems) to food processing (with a focus on new ingredients and adjuvants, new products, or process improvements), and finally, logistics and distribution (including improvements in packaging, safety and quality processes, and automation). Additionally, it will cover cross-cutting areas of opportunity such as digitalization in farming and production processes, as well as resource and waste management throughout the value chain.