VC firm launches $13.6m Anglo-Japanese agri fund
Japanese venture capital firm Tsukuba Technology Seed (TTS) has teamed up with the UK's Adapt Low Carbon Group to launch an Anglo-Japanese VC fund focusing on agricultural innovation.
According to a release, the Agri-Innovation Venture Capital Fund will start with GBP8 million ($13.6 million) in capital and focus on investments in small- to medium-sized technology agricultural businesses. It will target areas such as water resources and energy efficiency, precision farming, disease and pest control for crop production, irrigation and sustainable production systems.
Adapt - a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of East Anglia - already manages the Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) and provides business consultancy and investment for clean-tech start-ups. It has worked in partnership with TTS since 2012.
The plan is to grow the fund in two stages. The first stage will involve making co-investments in agri-tech business alongside existing LCIF and TTS funds. From 2015, the fund will look to raise new capital from both the UK and Japan. The fund will work in tandem with the UK government's recently launched UK Agri Tech Strategy.
"We believe it will really unlock the potential for innovative companies in the agri-tech sector to expand and grow through high quality international partnerships and provide access to new markets," said Yoshiki Sasaki, CEO of TTS.
More on Industrials
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.